The Last Date.

Well, hopefully not the last. But let's just say that I imagine they wont be in abundance in the near foreseeable future. The hospital bags are packed and I'm ready to rumble.

We have some friends here who have a little girl Jane's age and a 4 year old boy. They were nice enough to swap babysitting nights with us so that we could have a nice date before the baby makes her appearance. It was actually our first date in 6 months so it was HIGH time. It was quite strange to have both hands free and to not be on high alert at all times. (as it goes with a toddler in public)

Jeff held my hand and opened my door. He took pictures with me, where he mostly made silly faces, but then graciously decided to grant me the gift of one or two smiling pictures. He took a picture of me and my bump and insisted I don't pose with my hand on the top of my stomach because that bugs the living heck out of him. He bought me a nice dinner and made me eat shrimp and even a mussel! Those things are freakin weird and they smell like your face is right smack dab in the ocean. He told me he loved me and kissed me in the parking lot. And he woo'd me all over again. Heart eyes! At the end of the date I said "Thanks for taking me on a date, sweetie," and he replied with: "You're welcome. Thanks for being a date."

That made me laugh really hard. :)

I don't plan on getting this dressed up again during my pregnancy. Because I only have maternity PANTS and it is 90 degrees with no AC. So, yeah. Jeff's basketball shorts will be about as fancy as I get. That being said, I figured it was a good time to take a final bump pic at  38.5 weeks. Hand placement: Jeff approved.

After our date, we went to pick up jane. She was playing at the park with my friend Nikki and her cute kiddos. Nikki is the best by the way. She has offered to watch jane when I go into labor! This was one of the things I was most worried about: moving to a new country where I knew nobody and then trying to find someone I trust enough and that Jane loves enough to watch her while I'm in the hospital. Thank goodness for her and her willingness to serve us!

A date with my love, and then playing in the park with Jane and good friends. The weather was perfection. Barefeet, big smiles, and deep breaths of gratitude kind of weather. AH it makes me tingle with happiness just thinking about it. Watching Jane pick flowers as the sun sets. Watching her little face light up with joy as she runs over to me to present me with the flower she so carefully and deliberately picked "for you momma!"

It was a good little day. And as if it could get any better, I didn't have heart burn that night and slept through the whole night. It was like the cherry on top of an already delicious ice cream sundae. Except for maybe a strawberry because I like those more.

The No Longer Homeless Andersens!

Wow. I've never felt quite like this before; everything in my life is falling into place in one swift, gracious motion. I've wanted to cry, mostly happy tears, for the past few days! What a drastic change from this past month. The clouds are parting, and the sun is shining brightly through!

We are so happy here! I think I can speak for both Jeff and I that we have never felt so right about where we are in our lives. We find ourselves looking at each other often with pleasantly puzzled faces. Like "wow, is this really our life now?" Granted, we are still living in a tiny hotel- but NOT FOR LONG. We somehow managed to get offered a house exactly where we wanted. (here is a picture of our new neighborhood!)

 

We have our first little home, and we move in 2 days. We have been continuously giddy about the situation; so much so that Jeff INITIATED an amazon area rug shopping adventure early this morning. WHAT?!  This is a big deal. We both finally feel like we have a place of our own, and we are BOTH excited to make it feel that way. (Thank goodness Germany has IKEA ;)

We have eaten dinner with a new family or families every night for almost a week straight! And after we leave one of those houses we talk, excitedly, for 10 minutes about how stinking awesome they are. Have all the cool people been hiding in Germany this whole time?? I mean we've met cool people everywhere we've been but there seems to be a dense population of coolness here in these parts. Anyways, with all these dinner invites, we are both feeling kinda...dare I say...popular? Yeah, it's a first for me. Probably not so much for my very likeable husband :) We have made friends with some awesome couples, and Jane absolutely ADORES playing with any friends.

 (all three of these cute girls were jumping for the picture; how ironic that they are all completely on the ground. haha)

 

One family in particular has 3 little girls. They are all obsessed with Jane, and vice versa. It is just adorable. Like, ring around the rosie in the middle of the commissary adorable. :)

The hardest part for me of this whole ordeal has been allowing people to serve me. It almost physically pains me when I have to inconvenience someone else, even when they've offered. Especially when I have to do so repeatedly. But we've had no choice recently, and I just hope that we will have plenty of opportunities to serve and give back at least a portion of what we have received.
Maybe we will just buy everyone these donuts to say thank you? Well, they aren't actually donuts, and I'm not really sure what they are. But I know they've already made a deep impression on my daughter, and that they are equal parts flour and heaven.

Our days have been packed full lately. Some days more productive, some days more park productive. (read: 3 parks in one day) When Jeff and I are both at the park with her, she leads us around to different areas on the park about every 10 seconds, waving her hands and saying "Tum on errybody!!" (everybody: mom and dad.)

The adventures have just begun and we are really excited about what is to come!

Farewell to Utah

I cannot believe how a few small areas of utah hold nearly all of my memories from the past 5 years. I still remember driving into Provo for the first time as a fresh out of high-schooler, ready to embark on this thing called college. Wow, everything was big and new and scary. Now, that very place which was previously so foreign is etched fondly into my heart forever.

Moving on before this Provo love letter becomes far too sappy. This weekend, being Memorial Day Weekend, was the first time Jeff had a day off since he left for officer training school in january. He called me on friday morning and told me how he had a 3 day weekend. My response? "Get your little bum on a plane and come be with us!" Well, long story short, I was picking him up at the airport about 10 hours later. Lots of happy faces ensued.

The next day was also his birthday! We were able to pack that day full of little moments that are priceless. We got to meet up with Laura & Tom and Tim & Lauren (Yeah, its becoming a tongue twister to say those couples' names in the same sentence) in Salt Lake City. You know the joyous energy that just floats around when siblings are reunited? It's tangible. We all just got to ruminate in that for about 4 blissful hours. We went to Chipolte (OUR FAVORITE. SOMEONE PLEASE COME OPEN ONE UP IN GERMANY!!) and stuffed our faces, and then went to an awesome park for a couple hours; playing frisbee, talking, and laughing- more than I probably should being 32 weeks pregnant and lacking in the bladder control department. (whoops)

Let's stop this nonsense taking pictures and get to what is really important: sniffing dandelions!

(I'm nothing but a bean bag)

Ian and Jane were ADORABLE together. Little boy is a multi-tasker; going in for the kill WHILE sticking his tongue out. His tongue just feels a lot more comfortable outside of his mouth than it does inside. Cute little nugget. Jane kept trying to feed him apples and goldfish and I kept explaining how babies only drink milk! Good luck to me in life when I have a newborn around....

It was a great day, and Jeff and I were exhausted by the time we finally got Jane to bed. It was the really great day kind of exhaustion though. We even were too tired to go to a movie, which I am kind of regretting now. That was probably my last chance to go to a movie for....a LONG time. On sunday, we had a nice relaxing day with my aunt and uncle & cousins which ended in steaks fresh off the grill. Yeah, so no complaints here. Jeff and I went on a walk together, just the two of us. We love walking around neighborhoods, pointing out different things we like for our future house. Which flowers we like, which paint color we like, and which kind of fake rock we will NEVER adorn our house with. :)

On Monday we only had about 5 hours, but we made the best of those hours by going down to Provo for one last time. (Ok I'm being a bit melodramatic; I'm sure we will be back one day, but not for a long time.) We went and worked out in our beloved and nostalgic BYU gym and then went out to eat at kneaders. Wow that french toast. It is OUT of this world.

Like father, like daughter :)

 Here are the two silly brothers having a calf contest. And their respective significant others, checking out their guy. :) And yes, I realize I need to start wearing bigger t-shirts, this one Im wearing here is cutting it a little too close for comfort. I'm just waiting to live with my husband again so I can steal ALL of his and then wear them every day for the next 8 weeks. Can't wait.

After that, I dropped him off at the airport and held back tears the rest of the way home. I went to smiths and bought a bag of ripe and delicious nectarines in a measly attempt to fix the little pit in my stomach. I know I get to see Jeff in a week, and then we get to go on a pretty epic adventure TOGETHER. But it was still hard to say goodbye. I just like that guy. He is my best friend, and I sometimes forget how lovely it is to just be in his presence. He makes me feel like the luckiest lady in the world. Truly.

My Buddy

 (early morning giggles)

(just had an itch...ha)

Mostly my days lately consist of facetime calls with Jeff, and brainstorming ideas to entertain my sweet child; all the while feeling tiny little kicks of encouragement from my little baby inside.

It has been hard to be away from Jeff, but if you've noticed, I try not to dwell on it. Right now, we can't live in the same place, and I can either complain all day, or enjoy my days with this gem of a little girl and try to always keep her daddy in the loop. I will just say, it will be a joyous reunion when we get to see our favorite guy again. That's for sure.

One thing that I was so grateful Jeff didn't miss happened when we were facetiming today. Jane started doing squats. With quite good form, might I add! Well without any coercion, she finishes doing squats and moves right along to push ups, as if it were the most natural next step. She was doing push-ups. I mean, not the kind of push ups that would've passed any physical fitness test, but it was obvious that she knew exactly what she was doing. Her army dad was so proud. He then proceeded to coach her through 3 sets of squats, and 3 sets of push-ups. :)

We have been graced with the warmest ever Utah February, and although it is snowily coming to an end as we speak, we thoroughly enjoyed all the sunshine. Jane became quite accustomed to going "Out-Ide" and now begs for it. She just doesn't grasp the concept of "you won't be able to move your limbs because it is too cold" quite yet.

Her vocabulary is growing more rapidly than I can even keep up with lately. For the past few days, she has made multiple requests that were not fulfilled on account of, I had no idea what she was asking. My latest discoveries: The word "Waaaaaaiiiiitttttt", repeated over and over again is her way of asking to watch her favorite movie clip, 'I Just Can't Wait To Be King'. "Uh-weep" is her way of asking for me to get her broom out so she can sweep. Yes, she has her own mini broom, and no I'm not complaining that my daughter has an obsession with cleaning. "Dandy" is one that has been around for awhile; also one that won't be going away anytime soon because of her dangerous obsession with candy. That girl really likes candy. Regardless of the fact that I say "No candy" 98% of the time, she still asks often and with great diligence.

This stage is so dang fun. She is talking so much and enjoying more activities. I've been waiting awhile for her to finally enjoy coloring and now she can. She also, to my pleasant surprise, is already an avid shopper. She "oohs" and "ahhs" over every article of clothing, and when it is really something special she will say "cuuuuuute!". That's my girl. I call her my buddy sometimes, and the other day when we were going shopping she said "Tum on, buddy!" UHM, hi. Daughters are awesome.

I love my little girl and I pray everyday that she will never turn into a snotty teenager who hates me, because then I'd really miss my buddy.

Little Things

There are so many little things that happen everyday that I never want to forget. Of course, I don't write down everything because then I would always be writing. People always ask me, being a stay at home mom, "what do you do all day?" Well, I think those of you who are stay at home moms already have a pretty good idea. But really my days are just packed full of little moments like these. I personally wouldn't trade that for any fancy job.

^^ newest favorite activity, throwing rocks. And following through! Ha

- This morning I said "Jane, I love you!" and she replied by saying "Soooo much!"

- Yesterday we were outside enjoying every last drop of sunshine that this kind and generous february has to offer, and we were playing basketball. Mostly I would shoot and jane would get my rebounds and "shoot it" herself. I don't think she ever managed to lunge that ball higher than about 3 inches, but she was pretty proud of herself, and I personally have never had such a cute rebounder :)

- Everytime I change her diaper she manages to swipe a wipe from the container and then will proceed to walk around using it as a tissue and "blowing her nose', quite profusely. Blowing her nose, read: sniffing heavily.

- Her favorite snack is crushed ice. If I had a dollar for overtime she asked "IEEEEE?" everyday, then I'd be rich enough to buy her her very own ice machine.

- She is terrified of cellos, guitars, big dogs, and mascots. Turns out Texas Roadhouse has an armadillo mascot now. So random. That thing is big and she was frightened the moment she saw it. But then the armadillo came over and violated her with a friendly wave. All heck broke loose, and every time she got a glance of him afterwards, all heck broke loose again. I've never seen such fear!

- She has the craziest sugar tooth. She asks for candy multiple times a day. And she is often persistent. I'll be holding her and she will say "dandy? dandy? dandy?" and if I don't respond immediately she will tilt her head so that her face is right in front of my eyes and say loud and clear "DANDY?!" It cracks me up, and I usually say no (it makes her act super crabby). But sometimes I look at her and say "Sure Janie, sometimes a little girl just needs some candy!" When I give it to her, she shivers with unadulterated joy and does this deep, mischievous laugh.
The face she makes is similar to her "Sun in the Eyes" look, seen here.

- Jane knows 5 letters! (A, B, M, O, and J) She really loves learning letters, and whenever she sees one she recognizes, she gets so excited to point it out. She could also sit on my lap and watch me draw letters for a long time; sometimes the same one over and over and over.  :) But she is stubborn with colors. Grass is blue, the sky is blue, her pink nail polish is blue, and the red car across the street is blue. According to her...

- Right now as a type, I'm watching Jane entertain herself with a night light (it's actually a miracle Im blogging now, 98% of the time I blog when she is sleeping) and at the same time feeling little flutters in my tummy. The circle of life, man. It's cool.

Shoulder Kisses

I had to title this blog post "shoulder kisses" because if I ever forget the way that jane gratefully and lovingly kisses my shoulder each time I pick her up, I would be real ashamed of myself.

Since we have been apart from Jeff, her attachment to me has substantially increased, and for the most part, it really melts my heart. I mean, her looking up at me and saying "Momma!"..."Hold you!" will actually NEVER get old, even if she says it 42 times a day! Essentially, she is an appendage, but definitely the cutest one I have.

We have really enjoyed living in the small little town called Willard, Utah. My aunt and uncle and cousins are all angels...they give us lots of love, a room to sleep in, food to eat, and a house to play in that has A LOT more square feet than our wymount apartment had. :) It makes entertaining Jane so much easier. A big space to play in and extra people to play with- people who LOVE her too! What more could a little girl want?

We went on a little road trip this weekend, just me and my little janie girl. Rexburg, Idaho. And I can now confirm all "frozen tundra" jokes directed towards that little college town. I learned to never leave anything in the car overnight that you don't want to be frozen. Including baby wipes... Speaking of baby wipes, Jane's greatest fascination during our weekend visit was to watch her baby cousin Ian get his diaper changed. Whenever she watched him get his diaper changed, she would then beg me to change her diaper. Ha! And usually I have to chase her around and tackle her in order to do so.

Jane and Ian were so cute together. She legitimately loved him. And he gave her SO many smiles that I couldn't help but think that he legitimately loved her too. Cousin love, the best.

Despite the fact that my hands felt like icicles whenever I drove anywhere, (because the steering wheel is not exempt from the frozen in the car if left overnight category) we had a great time. Laura and I talked about our kids, made huge amounts of breakfast burritos and crafted. Total mom stuff (the best). And I got to hang with my brother Brendon. I mostly just bought him food, because that is every freshman's love language. I loved that we got to spend some fun time with Laura, Tom, (Jane looooves saying "Tom") Ian, and my brother Brendon. 4 of our favorite people in one cold, cold place.

making a matching game for jane//breakfast burrito assembly line//straight up diva in a craft store//Jane and Brendon. She looks like 5 in this picture. what the heck?

On our way back from Idaho, I had a moment that I don't really want to forget, as simple as it was. We had been driving for only 20 minutes when I had to stop for gas. Jane had already gotten her whine on and was not a happy camper. But when I was standing outside her window getting gas, she saw me and her eyes lit up. I started making silly faces and before I knew it, her tears had turned into an eruption of the happiest giggles. I just loved that moment, that all she needed to be happy, to be comforted, was her mom. And I am the lucky one who gets to be that person. I know it won't always be that way, but I just feel like this beautiful, daunting, and wonderful responsibility of being everything she needs is just the coolest feeling in the world.