Xmas 2008

Well is was quite an eventful Christmas this year. It was Joni's first Christmas and she didn't quite know what to make of it, but loved playing with the paper. Evan, on the other hand, was sick for Christmas. I felt so bad for him because he was so excited this year about Christmas and he didn't get to enjoy it. In fact he didn't get to enjoy any of the Christmas' we had. We had several and still one to go. At least they still get to enjoy the toys and stuff afterwards.

Christmas at my father-in-law's house.

Before opening presents

After opening presents

2008 Christmas Photo

This was not the easiest photo to get. I tried having Joni sit in Evan's lap, but she wanted to keep looking at him or pulling on the tree. So I had to have her stand up and Evan hold onto her to get this photo.

Then I took their individual pictures. Of course getting Evan to smile is like pulling teeth, but Joni, on the other hand, it a ham in front of the camera.

The Andrus Clan

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Joni is eight months

Joni is now sitting up like a champ. She also likes to bend herself in half, which is a sign for getting ready to crawl - oh dear! She is "talking" a lot, which is what a girl does. She still does not take good naps, however I have been having a little success back in the swing, but she does wake up to see if I am there. If I am not she starts screaming, sometimes will go back to sleep and other times I have to rock her back to sleep. I can just thank god she sleeps well at night.

THANKSGIVING

Well it was Joni's first thanksgiving and my third one cooking, or at least I was suppose to. Thank god my mother was here, she ended up cooking everything, sorry mom. Joni is having horrible separation anxiety so I was not able to cook since I had to be with her. The food was excellent and I even tried new things, which I ended up liking, imagine that. Joni even had her first table food, mashed potato, even though it wasn't much. I'm not sure if she liked it or not, from the faces she was making.

Joni's first taste of real food

Here is Joni experiencing a cracker. She had no idea what to do with it at first, but once she did she seemed to enjoy it. It sure was a mess, but that is the fun of it.

Joni is seven months

Here she is at seven months. She is sitting up better, but when she gets excited or looks up too far over she goes. She is babbling a lot more and enjoys playing with things. Love to put anything in her mouth, which will be a problem when she starts crawling. I am so proud of my baby girl.

Visit to Roach's Run

My parents were in town for a visit, so as a family we all went to Roach's Run, which is a park to watch the planes land or take off from Reagan Airport. You can also watch the boats come in and out of the Potomac. It was an absolutely beautiful day and the kids had a lot of fun. We even got to see one of the DC Ducks come out of the water, which was a little upsetting because we wanted to do that but according to their website they closed the prior weekend. OH well we still had a lot of fun.

Halloween 2008

This was an eventful Halloween. It was Joni's first halloween and Evan's first as a big brother. We decided to do all of our trick or treating at my brother's house, since there are so many kids in that neighbor and we have none, in fact we only had 20 kids come to the door. Evan was so excited he got to trick or treat with his cousin Cate. Joni doesn't know the difference, so she went right along. We got a little trick or treating in before the melt downs started. Poor Evan missed out on a nap and boy did it show later that night. I should have know. This morning he was so proud of the little bit of candy he did get so I guess in all he had a good time, which is all that matters.

Evan did it!!

My boy, the one who was afraid of the water, somewhat, passed his first swim class. He can now advanced to the Turtles class from the Solo Swan class. You would have never expected this if you saw him in the beginning and what it took to get him there. He was afraid to do a lot in the beginning, in fact he didn't even want to go, but mommy knew he could do it. He now floats on his back with his ears under water with no problem, he will also hold his face in the water for 5 seconds. He will be a swimmer here shortly - I KNEW HE COULD DO IT!! YEAH EVAN!!

Joni's first illness

Well it is official, I gave Joni and maybe Evan my cold. We just got back from the doctor and Joni has her first cold. I am grateful it wasn't anything worse. However she kept me up most of the night because she was having a hard time breathing, a little hard to do when you have a stuffy noise and use a pacifier. So hopefully it won't get any worse and the nose drops will help.

Joni's prize

Here is Joni with her prize from the doctor's office. My brave little one.

Joni's six month check up

Today was Joni's six month check up and boy what a change. She has grown a lot and is now almost on target where she should be. She went from 50% height, 10% weight and 10% head to 90% height, 50 % weight and 75% head. She is now 26 1/4 inches long, 14 lb 10.5 oz and 16 3/4 head circ. She isn't such a skinny minnie anymore.

The poor girl had to have four shots and the rotavirus. She was a trouper and she got a pair of yellow star sunglasses for it. She has to go back in two weeks for her flu shot.

Evan was in for a shock as well. I surprised him with the flu shot. At first he was saying NO MOMMY, NO MOMMY, but I talked him into showing Joni how brave he was and what a big boy he was. So it took a little coaxing, but he did it. I had him look at me and say 1,2,3 boogers, which he did and he only flinched. I can't believe how brave he was. In fact he was able to pick out a toy from the treasure chest.

Joni sitting - just for a moment

Here is a photo of Joni sitting, even for only a moment. She sat long enough for me to get this picture then over she went. She is getting so close now.

All Dolled Up and No Place To Go!

This is Joni wearing her first dress. She got all dress up and had no place to go. We did end up going on an Evan playdate. So at least someone, other than her family, got to see her all dress up.

Sterlingfest 2008

This was my first visit back in many years. It hasn't changed much just got a lot smaller. I decided to take Evan and Joni to their first parade. Of course Joni slept through most of it and Evan had a blast. His favorite parts were all the fire trucks and all the free candy that was thrown at him. After the parade we went to the festivities at the community center. Evan had a lot of fun on the moonbounce, moonbounce maze and most of all on the bouncy trampoline. The boy loves to jump. Then we went down to the fire house where Evan earned his fireman's hat by finding him way out of the smoke house. We also enjoyed watching the car demonstration, they torn a car apart to rescue the "victims" inside.

This is the hat that he earned!

Pumpkinville 2008

This was our first trip to Pumpkinville. It was a lot of fun to see all of the animals and to watch Evan have so much fun on all the "rides." They had a Hay Maze, Hay Rides, Giant Hill Slides, Straw Tunnels Rope Swings, Moonbounces, 200 ft. Kidz Zip Line, Belly Bounce, Fort Pumpkin and a Spooky Pirate Ship. We did everything but the Hay Ride and the Zip Line. I know that Evan had fun because he wants to go back and he can't stop talking about it.

This was Joni getting ready to go!