Texas Andersons

It has been so busy around here just with us planning the BIG-5 birthday party and planning for the two new additions to our family. Puppy dreams, baby name thoughts, and birthday party surprises fill our heads every day. And a week doesn’t go by when Ben doesn’t ask me at least twice, “How soon can we go get my puppy?” It seems like our entire spring and summer are going to be so busy with events and new arrivals.

But until then, we’re busy enjoying our time together as we are now. Ben and I spent a fabulous evening at Fiesta Texas for New Year’s Eve. He got on every ride he was tall enough for, we enjoyed a show and some kettle corn, and we got to see the lighting of their Christmas tree. The park was so beautiful! Then the boys spent an afternoon with Papa Bobby at the Monster Jam. They must have had a fabulous time because Ben has been talking non-stop about and has been playing with hardly anything but monster trucks for the last two weeks. The noise, excitement, and destruction had quite an effect on him. The next big thing was our 19-week ultrasound where we got to see baby move, and got to see that baby is a boy! Nathan beamed; Ben eventually laughed and giggled with excitement; I could only say, “Oh no! Not another boy!” So, I’m a little disappointed… but only until they put that sweet little baby into my arms. And yesterday, I surprised Ben with a trip out to The Cave Without a Name. Everything was so exciting- the gift shop, the cave, the formations, the bat! He seemed to really enjoy the outing.

And the kids have been so busy at school. And Ben has been having some great days there. So proud of him, we’ve had several neat afternoons to treat him for his accomplishments. Ice cream at Marble Slab, reading books at Read All About It, playing at the playground have all been such great things to do for us to spend time together. And with the school celebrating cowboys as the San Antonio Stockshow and Rodeo approaches, I also treated Ben to his first pair of cowboy boots! Oh, so handsome! Can’t wait to see him all dressed up again tomorrow for Rodeo Day.

Two big CONGRATS…

First to Nathan. For a promotion, a fabulous yearly review, and for all the great work you did to deserve it. We’re so proud of you! And kudos to Rackspace for making Fortune’s Best Companies list- check out the article here. They’re #32!

And also to John, Marli, and Robert. We are so excited that they are expecting a little one too- just three weeks after us! Congrats, guys!

At our 19-week ultrasound today, we got to see the baby move, kick, and even hold its hand to its mouth like it was sucking its thumb. Then the big news- another boy! Just what Ben wanted, he’s happy. My immediate reaction? Great. But now we’ll have to really consider adopting that little girl that I want so badly. Guess we were meant to have a bigger family than we had originally planned.

So now it’s time to start searching for boys’ names and prepare for another little truck-loving, rough-and-tumble, bundle-of-energy little boy…

Aidan, Daniel, Evan, Hayden, William, or Zachary?

It all started just two weeks before Christmas. Grandmom Loretta took Ben to visit Santa, and we found out that he asked Santa for a “real, live puppy!” Whoa! Not what we had expected at all. And it was nothing we were prepared for. So it was quickly explained to Ben that Santa delivers toys, not live animals. And besides, Santa probably wouldn’t be able to pick out the perfect puppy for our family. When asked if he would like the puppy for his birthday instead, he obliged.

Santa was able to deliver a couple of great gifts that got the ball rolling on the puppy theme and hunt- a Pet Pals video game has let Ben raise and play with a puppy and a dog breed encyclopedia that led us to choose a corgi as the perfect dog for us.

Then I began the legwork, e-mailing dozens of corgi breeders that I could find located here in Texas. Breeder #1’s litter of five puppies was born on January 1st. They’ll be ready for adoption around February 15th. We’d have to drive to Scurry to pick them up. Breeder #2’s litter of seven puppies was born January 2nd. They’d also be ready for adoption around February 15th. We’d have to drive to Paris to pick our puppy up. There were no other breeders having litters at this time. So we’re waiting on more photos from these two families and a connection to one of the little bundles of fur!

Two-and-a-half months of being sick can leave anyone longing for the life that they’ve been missing. Me, it was a lot of little things…

There were foods- chocolate, pizza, whoppers, taco salads, etc. I especially hated not being able to eat a big Thanksgiving turkey dinner and pumpkin pie.

There was one important event- the Hill Country Christmas weekends. In the past we’ve attended at least two of the weekends each year, enjoying the snow show, horse carriage rides, the entertainers, kettle corn, etc. But this year, when I finally felt up to going and we were looking forward to what we thought was the last weekend of the event, we sadly had missed the whole thing.

And there were activities. I miss working. I hated closing down the studio during the busiest time of the year. It was hard missing out on all that fun, those smiles, and that extra income. And something I realized yesterday was that I have really missed singing. I was driving in the truck with a cd turned up loud, wanting to belt out the song. But I’ve been so weak, I can’t remember the last time I could sing my heart out.

Funny what you miss…