First (Official) Day of Nursery

Nursery is where kids ages 1.5 -3 years old go during our Sunday meetings. You can imagine what it is like to get a 1 year old through 3 hours of church (during nap time) each Sunday. We have definitely been counting down the days until Luke could go play in Nursery.

As long as there are chairs to climb and light switches to manipulate, he's a happy camper. I actually have to confess that I ended up not leaving today. I know that Luke would probably have been fine because he knows all the other kids, but I kind of feel weird without him. He has become my security blanket. I feel so much more comfortable talking to people, etc, when I have Luke to demand half my attention. Isn't that weird! I don't even know how to handle a few hours with no distractions. This little separation will definitely be good for both of us.

By the way, I made his tie (which is why it looks a little funky). It was a good learning experience, but I think I'll just buy ties from now on. The pattern is here if you're interested.

Need a Photographer - Help!

We really need to take a family picture sometime in the next few months. I'm starting to think about photographers and have no idea who to use. I would really like them to turn out well and would even be willing to pay a little more if it was someone who would definitely do a good job (that's probably news to my husband....hey hot stuff, can I spend money on nice family pictures?? :) xoxo).

If you know of a good photographer in either Ohio or Utah (we will be visiting Utah in April), I would LOVE some recommendations. It would be extra helpful if they have a website so I can get an idea of their style. Please leave a comment or email me: mocann@yahoo.com (yeah, its the junk email, but I DO check it).

THANK YOU! Maybe we'll even be able to replace our pre-married kissy shot with a respectable family pic!

Some of My Favorites

With only one child, of course we take WAY too many pictures. So here are a few of my favorites from this month....so far....that I haven't already posted...

I love that he's trying to make a run for it.

That rain jacket didn't keep him dry AT ALL. Luckily COSI had dryers for us to use because he was soaked.

Look-alikes

I've been debating about whether to share this funny thing that happened tonight...so let me just preface by saying that you don't have to worry about my self-confidence...I have plenty. I am quickly approaching 28 years. As they say, "I'm comfortable in my own skin".

Tonight, while we were at our ward's Chili Cook-off (so fun), a very sweet older lady leaned over and asked me if anyone has ever told me that I look like a young Melissa Gilbert. I replied "No, I don't think I've heard that one." She stressed that I look like a young Melissa Gilbert...not the old Melissa Gilbert.

Seriously?

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Melissa Gilbert or Little House on the Prairie. But does anyone want to be told that they look like a young Melissa Gilbert? In all fairness, this wonderful lady was sincerely trying to give me a compliment and kept telling me how beautiful she thought I was (and apparently I must look about 15 years younger than I actually am). How can you be mad at such a sweet woman!? And honestly, there are some striking similarities, I will admit. So I just thanked her and laughed to myself. I will just add "a young Melissa Gilbert" to the long list of unattractive people I have been told I look like.

This has always been something that I find so funny. When I venture to tell people that they look like a famous person, I am very careful to make sure that that person is widely accepted as very attractive. We're talking Cindy Crawford, Catherine Zeta-Jones....for example, my friend Janay is a dead ringer for Christie Brinkley. I'm pretty sure that's a compliment.

Does this happen to anyone else?

By the way, Andrew REALLY DOES look like Brendan Fraser. It's kind of spooky. (I couldn't find the best pictures to compare, so you will just have to trust me on this).

Seriously?

(even Luke is getting a little tired of this)

At first, all this snow we've been getting was a nice diversion from the overcast skies. There were even a few days where I was starting to think that snow is actually fun. Luke and I were having a blast playing in it.

But now the winter crazies are starting to set in and I think I'm about to lose my mind. Luke came down with the croup from all that frolicking in the snow and we've been on lockdown mode ever since. I think I realized I was going a little crazy this morning as I was yelling at an innocent* customer service guy on the phone. That is sooo not like me. I always have Andrew take care of that kind of stuff. And yesterday, we had some friends over for dinner and when they arrived I realized that I was still in my pajamas and hadn't even brushed my teeth yet. I still don't even know how that happened. You would think that after inviting them over, I would run upstairs really fast and do some quick damage control....but no.

I'm not sure how to overcome the crazies this year. Normally, I would just start some major unnecessary project in my house like painting a room, but that would involve digging my car out of the snow to go buy paint and then opening the windows to clear out the fumes. Not to mention that Luke is not napping very well and that leaves little time for projects. Lost is tonight which kind of helps, but sometimes I think that looking forward to TV shows just makes me a little more on the crazy side. So any ideas?

*Please note, the customer service guy was probably an innocent bystander undeserving of my tirade, however, I think I was justified in my indignation. The company sent me a bill for a phone line that I had 6 years ago!! I don't know how it took them 6 years to finally let me know I had a $20 balance (left over by some previous roommates who probably forgot to pay one month). I explained that in that amount of time, I had lived in a foreign country for 18 months, dated and married my husband AND had a baby! How could it possibly take them 6 years to send this bill to me. Plus, if they had the resources to find me under my married name, living in Ohio...I'm pretty sure they could have found me while I still had my maiden name and lived right around the corner from that apartment. See....it's the winter crazies...they're taking over!

To end on a more cheerful note, check out my studly son stacking his blocks all by himself.

Today is Michele's Birthday!

Today is my sister, Michele's birthday. I've been waiting for months for this day so that I could brag about her.

A non-exhaustive list of the things I love about Michele McCann Anderson...

• Michele is a fun, dedicated and loyal friend. Relationships with other people have always been the most important thing to her. She is sensitive to the feelings of others and always goes the extra mile to help people feel loved and included. Years ago, while I was still at BYU, I met a guy from San Jose that I had never met before. He had grown up in Michele's ward and as soon as he found at who I was, he told me about how much Michele had reached out to youth in the ward who were having a hard time. He could think of many instances where she had made a big difference for people who were struggling. Talk about big shoes to fill.
  
• Michele is SO FUNNY! Whenever she calls, I always know that I will be laughing in no time. She always can find humor even in the most dire of circumstances which is why she is the perfect person to talk to when you really need a good laugh. My Mom always says that when Michele comes to visit, she has a way of lifting the spirits of everyone around her. I would have to concur. Sometimes she is funny without even realizing it. My favorite Michele quote is something she said before we ended a recent phone conversation: "Oh, Lauren, I have to go! I have to clean the house before the cleaning lady gets here". Priceless.
  
• Michele is extremely generous. I could probably embarrass her with stories of the many generous things she has done for myself and others (and so I will). One example of her generosity involved the aforementioned cleaning lady. Originally, the cleaning lady was only hired to help Michele out for a year after she had her 3rd child. That 3rd child is now almost 8 years old. The cleaning lady is from Guatemala and works to send money home to her family. Michele can't bear the thought of canceling her service. To extenuate matters, she has given the cleaning lady so many piles of old clothes, etc., to send home to her family that the cleaning lady has told her that they have enough and they don't need anymore! :) She has a big heart.

Michele is easy to talk to, very outgoing, sensitive to the Spirit, a wonderful Mom, stands up for what she believes in, focuses on the positive, fashion-forward (seriously...waaaaay more hip than I could ever be), and doesn't hesitate to use her MANY talents to bless the lives of others. I'm so lucky to have her as a sister. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHELL!

SNOW part II.

Andrew wanted a piece of the action when he got home from work [see post below].

Luke did this all on his own. He already had the gloves and hat on before we even noticed. He really wants to be just like Dad.

SNOW

This isn't the biggest snowstorm I've experienced in Columbus, but it is definitely a lot of snow for us. I was really bored this morning because all of my plans involved driving somewhere and that doesn't seem like the best idea anymore. Plus, Andrew had to go to the hospital today so it is just Luke and I. Then I remembered that when it snows, kids go and play outside! Don't worry, I'm slow...but I'm catching on to this whole Mom business.



This is what your snowman looks like when you grew up in California. I know it is pathetic (as Andrew so lovingly pointed out) but it is the FIRST snowman I've ever made. I thought using the tomato stake was ingenious.