It's Been So Long

I know it has been a long time since I updated so here it all is! Actually I told Travis that it was his turn to do it. You can see he was all over that! Travis has been working like crazy lately. We thought that we were all done with shut downs and he would finally be back to a regular schedule... NOT! He got 7 days off which was really nice but found out before he went back to work that there was an unplanned shutdown that started. They estimate it to be about a month long. Ya right, Syncrude never estimates right! Anyways he isn't working the shut down just working a modified schedule of 9 days and then 3 days off. Not too bad. We decided that we should have a fun day with the kids before he went back to work so we took them swimming to the YMCA. The kids loved it. Then we went and played in the big indoor play ground after. It was a lot of fun.

Tobin is finally officially walking. It will be great when he is more confident and walks more. My back will be very happy! He is a funny kid. He knows how to push Emma's buttons that for sure. He also can climb up to the top of the table in seconds. I think that is how he pushes mine! He's a character.

Emma is still going to gymnastics and loving it. She does all kinds of things at home that she learns there. Head stands on the couch are probably the most practiced! I'm glad she likes it. She still like to draw and color and would do it all day. She loves painting but I'm not a huge fan of the paint all over the table... so I found a website that she can paint on the computer. Way cleaner.

Travis is well... still working but looking forward to his day off tomorrow. I'm keeping busy with the kids and practicing a few songs with some friends. There is group of us singing for are Relief Society March party and then another group of us doing an air band. I'll wait to post a picture in a few weeks after the ward variety show. Your all going to love it! We are having so much fun.

Oh ya here is a house update. So things are absolutely flying. We are not complaining. Are lease is up here in April which is perfect timing. We should have the key in are hand by the 20th of April!! Super soon. I went in the house a couple of days ago and all the mouldings and shelving is done. They were working on the banisters for the stairs. We are going back tomorrow to see what else has been done. Are cabinets should be in on the 25th of March. I'm expecting to have lots of visitors when we move in. Now that we have the space there is no excuses!

Bonus Room

Pantry with tonnes of shelves! YaY!

Great room

My 4 Valentines!

I want to tell you about not just one valentine but 4 valentines!

First one I met in June of 2003. He was this super hot guy that moved into a house that some of my friends lived in. Rumor had it that he was looking for a wife so that he could move to Fort McMurray! Well when I heard this I jokingly said to my friend "I'll marry him". Little did I know that 5 months later we were engaged and married in Feb of 2004. He was everything I was looking for. He loved being outside especially in the mountains, he was kind, funny, had a strong testimony of the church, close to his family, liked sports, and had a plan for his future. I have to thank his parents for raising such a great man. He truly is my best friend and I love him so much. He is the best father any kid could ask for, and would do anything for anybody in his family.

My second valentine is a tiny one! In May of 2005 Ethan Travis Anderson decided to come 14 weeks early. He was a little fighter and did all that he could. He grew his wings 19 days after he was born. Ethan was a perfect tiny little guy. One day I will get to see him again and have the chance to raise him. I learned a lot from this little guy. I learned that you have to trust in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, they have a plan and there is nothing we can do to change that. My testimony of the atonement grew tremendously as we grieved over the loss of this little angel. I know he is safe and I know that his life has a plan too. It just wasn't going to be on this earth. We miss him dearly and he is always in our hearts. This is a little quote that is on his head stone. "We held you in our hands and now we hold you in our hearts"

My third valentine met me on April 24 2006! It was rough but we made it to the due date! A beautiful little girl that we named Emma Colleen Anderson. She had big eyes and looked like a little doll. She has a very good nature about her. Emma is kind to others and would never do anything purposely to hurt someone. She loves gymnastics and can't wait to go to school. She turns 4 in just over a month and wants to have a princess party. She loves princesses and dressing up. She makes me laugh on a daily basis. I think I laugh the hardest when we are in a public washroom together. Little kids always say what they think! I just feel bad for the other people that are in there! Emma is a good girl and really likes sunbeams. She loves her little brother and is always asking for another Tobin. I tell her that she is just going to have to wait longer! Sorry no announcements for a while. I love my little girl, she gives the best hugs and kisses.

My last valentine just turned one! Yes it's Tobin! He came Dec 19 2008. We named him Tobin Philip Anderson. He was my big boy from the beginning. He came 3 1/2 weeks early and weighed 8 lb 6 oz. Yes he was are other little preemie! Tobin has never been a small boy, at his year shots he weighed about 30lb's. He is such a true little boy, he is not graceful or gentle. Look out when Tobin is coming cause he will either plow the object out of the way or just crawl over it. He already has a sense of humor. He teases me and Emma all day long! Tobin is also my little monkey. The kid climbs everything! I can't leave him unattended for more than a couple minutes because I will find him on top of the kitchen table. Surprisingly enough we haven't had any major falls or hospital visits... knock on wood because now that I just said that guess where we'll be! Tobin keeps me super busy all day long until he is in bed. I don't get anything done, trust me my house shows it! I love this boy and can't wait to see what he is like the older he gets.

So those are my valentines, they are all so special in there own little ways whether they are here physically or here only in spirit. I love them all. Happy Valentines Day!

April... WHAT??!

On Friday we did are first walk through of the house. I can't wait to be in it. We also picked out all the colors for the interior. That made it even more real! Things are coming together great. When we were walking through the house the building manager was with us. We were sort of wondering when the house would be done or when he thought it would be finished. I was expecting to hear like August and I think Travis was hoping for June! Well to are surprise the building manager told us the end of APRIL! That's what I said APRIL! I know I had to hear him say it again too! That's crazy, that would be only like 4 months from when the basement went in. Ahhhhh! We are not excited at all! Ummm OK we are... just a little bit.

This week Travis finally had a couple of days off. I think they were well needed! We tried to cram in as much as we could those days. We checked out the house, picked out the interior stuff, I played in a volleyball tournament, and then we went out for dinner and movie. We saw Avatar. We both really enjoyed it.

Oh ya and today me and Travis are celebrating are 6th anniversary! Time flys I know. 6 years already. I love him so much. He is such a good man and a great father. He is a super hard worker sometimes we wish he was around more to play but, when he is here he helps out lots. I couldn't ask for a better husband, father, and friend. He is the best! I love you Travis.

bonus room

great room

front entrance

Kitchen

Asthma and A Lot of Work!!

We went to the Dr. yesterday because Tobin has sounded like he has had a cold. He was coughing a while ago then is sort of went away, then it came back. I had enough and wanted to find out what was going on. So I loaded up the kids and off to the Dr. we went. After the doctor checked him out for about 5min's she told me I had a really big boy! (Like I didn't already know that!) She told me that he has Asthma. I honestly wasn't that surprised. I asked her if he would eventually grow out of it. She said most likely but not until he is about 5 or 6. Great!! So it is a fight every day 4 times to be exact. He is one strong little boy. I also found out he has another ear ache. Let's hope he is on the mend and hope that winter will be over soon.

Travis has been working like a dog! We discovered last night that he has not had his full 6 days off since November!! Trust me I can tell. He is tired and hopes that all the work will come to an end soon. They were preparing for a shutdown that was supposed to happen in March but ended up starting early. Good news about that is it will be done sooner! He finally has 2 days off this weekend. Which couldn't have worked out better... I have volleyball tournament Friday and Saturday. Wish me luck! It will be some good well needed bonding time for Travis and the kids. Tobin is such a Daddy's boy. The other night Travis got home a little earlier than usual and got to see Tobin and Emma. I have never seen a little boy get off the couch so fast and crawl to the door to meet his Dad! It was so cute. It made Travis feel pretty special too!

Not too much other stuff has happened... I started making a quilt for Emma's bed for her new room. It is going to be super cute. Thanks to Sharisse for helping me out and providing some room to actually work on it. I had my 29th birthday last week too. I got 2 cakes that day, how I got so lucky I'm not sure. All I know is that I have an awesome sister in law that got me a cheesecake and made me dinner that day (thanks Mindy!) and my wonderful husband came home with ice cream cake and flowers! Emma is in gymnastics and loves it!

Our house is coming along great and much faster than we thought it would. We are getting cabinets ordered this week and picking out some of the fun stuff like colors, flooring, and counter tops. Here are some of the latest pictures. The roof should be on this week and windows will go in. AHHH the sweetness of progress... there really is an end!

Skiing and a Floor!

Travis and I were able to go out skiing on Saturday. He asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday so I told him skiing! I love skiing and it had been about 7 years since I had been. Sad thing about it is that we have lived 15 mins away from a ski hill for the last almost 6 years! Travis had been twice in his life so I wasn't sure what to expect. Honestly I had convinced myself that it was going to be a day mostly on the bunny hill. Actually it was completely opposite. We went down the bunny hill twice and he was ready to hit the big slopes, well as big as they come in Fort Mac! By the afternoon he wanted to go down the black diamonds! Umm I wasn't so brave! We had lots of fun and can't wait to go again. I think I know what Santa might bring us next year!!

I drove over to the house after skiing and there was a floor on the house. And I went by a few days later and there is walls up on the first floor. I will get some picture in a few days! The framing is coming along really fast. I go by I think everyday just to remind myself that it is

actually happening!

Braces, Baking and Basements

I did it! I have had a cross bite for my whole life and it will finally be gone. I'm one of the lucky ones though... I think! I only have them on for 8 months if everything goes good. I feel like I never get full from eating. It takes so long to eat that by the time I'm done I feel like I could eat another plate! I hear it gets better after a few weeks.

Emma wanted to make a cake so we made some cupcakes. Usually I'm not that big on cupcakes because they are small and tedious to decorate but I found the this awesome icing recipe that has no fat in it... that's right NO FAT!!! I know I know it has some sugar in it that will just turn into fat but hey... it sounds good! Anyways it is really easy to make on the second try. I did it the first time and it was not fluffy at all. What you do is cook the sugar, water and cream of tartar till it starts to bubble and all the sugar is dissolved then you add that gradually into some egg whites that are beat till soft peaks formed. You whip the crap out of it as you add the hot syrup until stiff peaks form. It was really easy the second time... you just have to make sure you beat the egg whites enough the first time. Let me know if you want the recipe... it tastes like marshmallows.














So the basement is in. Yippee! We are hoping that next week we can post some picture of some framing being done. Can't wait. Sorry that most of my posts have been about our house but I am using this as a journal so it is an easy way to keep track of the progress.















Tobin this week has sure shown us his true colors. He has decided to start throwing tantrums. It's kinda weird because Emma never really had those " throw yourself on the floor" kind. She just got mad! Well, lately if you put Tobin down when he doesn't want you too he will arch his back and lay on the floor screaming! It's driving me nuts! Let's hope this phase passes soon.

We found out yesterday that Travis's shutdown that is supposed to happen in March has been push up to Monday. Yes that is January 25th. I wasn't really prepared for this to happen but I guess the sooner it's over the better. We are planning to get away as soon as it is over for a while! Can't wait to get out of town for a bit. Hopefully only one more month of rarely seeing my husband. I really do like it when he is around... maybe I should let work know that!!!!

Hallelujah!!!! It's Finally Started!

Well the title of this post about says it all!! It is finally started. The hole was dug today and the footer were poured. Tomorrow the walls and floor in the basement should be going in. It made me so excited that I actually had a hard time sleeping last night. So yippee were on are way.

This last week was a pretty quiet week. Not a lot happened. Emma did start her first day of gymnastics and totally loved it. She can't wait to go back. Tobin is still not walking! We honestly thought that he was going to be walking like 3 months ago. He sure is proving us wrong!

Travis is working a tonne and will be for the next 3 or 4 months. We really miss him when he is gone so much and can't wait for the shutdown to be over. Sad when we can't wait for something that has not even started yet. I wouldn't be so bad if it was warmer outside so I could get the kids out. Oh well... you do what you have to do. Everything is else is great. I have been feel awesome and have so much energy. I haven't felt like this for a long long time. It's great!