7 months...

Time has gotten away from me so quickly - I can't believe how long it has taken me to get this post up! The past month for Watson was taken over by sickness - it was a pretty pitiful sight to see! Poor baby got a double ear infection, and croup...twice! As is typical in our family, Watson has gotten sick, both times, on the weekend. We got to know the people at Children's After Hours Clinic pretty well in the course of 2 weeks! I firmly believe that seeing your baby sick is one of the most helpless feelings. He is definitely teething as well, so that has been lots of fun :) He chews on EVERYTHING. Seriously - I looked over the other day and he was chewing on our couch. I guess whatever works :) Teething rings have become our best friends. I still can't see or even feel any teeth, but he is working on it for sure!

Weight: 18lbs 6oz at 6 1/2 months
Size diaper: 2 - will be size 3 as soon as our next shipment comes in :)
Size clothes: Between 6-9 months. 6 month clothes are too small, 9 months are a little big. Poor thing either looks squeezed in to his clothes or like he hasn't quite grown in to them yet
Eating: 7oz 4 times a day, fruit in the morning, vegetable (or 2) at night (stage 2 baby food) Still loves all foods - really doesn't turn any down!
Sleeping: 12..sometimes 13..hours at night. Morning nap (1 1/2 - 2 hours), afternoon nap (1 1/2 - 2 hours). W has really gotten to the point where he has to have his naps or he is a grumpy little boy in the evenings!!


A few things I wanted to note about Watson this month:
- Loves bath time! We got a new bath seat which allows him to sit up in the bathtub (rather than recline in the little chair we did have)...and he LOVES it! It's so sweet to see him splash and have such a good time every bathtime :)


- He cannot stand to be alone...and let's you know it! W seems to be a social little boy...he cries..no, screams..any time he is the only one in the room...or just thinks he is the only one in the room. I feel like I have to sneak around the room if he is playing because as soon as he sees me walk by he just let's it all out...loud.

- Incredibly active! I'm giving him a couple more weeks to be fully on the move with crawling. He is doing a sort of army crawl now - up on his elbows and just kind of dragging his legs behind him. It's pretty impressive how quickly he can get from point a to point b though! It's so sweet to watch him around kids older than him - he makes it so clear just how badly he wants to be able to get up and run around with them! He absolutely loves time with Abby - they make each other laugh and it is absolutely adorable!


- Loves cell phones and remotes - he can have all of his toys around him and he will barely see a corner of the remote or a cell phone and he is instantly on the move towards it.

- Always likes to have his eye on mommy. Can't say I mind this :)

Loving his high chair..he knows it's time to eat as soon as I put him in there!

- Still VERY smiley! This boy is the happiest little baby I have ever been around...and I love i! He is incredibly content (as long as someone is in the room with him!) and laughs all day. If I have the tv on and he sees someone smiling, he always smiles back at them..it's hilarious :)

First trip to the park - he loved the swing!

Graham spent 9 days this month in Africa. During that time, my nephew, Hampton was born. Thankfully my mother in law came in town to help with Watson for several days - what a blessing that was!!! Watson actually got croup, round 2, while she was here..so it was a HUGE help to have her here during that time so that I could be with my sister when Hampton was born. Luckily the second bout of croup was not has bad as the first! I usually try to enjoy winter and the cold weather...but I have never been more ready for Spring in my life. The weather in AL has been crazy. 70's one day, 40's the next. In other words, everyone's allergies and sinuses are all messed up...including W's. We are definitely praying for a healthier next month!

Family picture and a sign we made for our friend, Maureen, who Graham was able to see while in Kenya.

In Love...

Watson's seven month post will be up sometime this week, but I had to take a minute to show off the newest addition to our family...

Hampton Reynolds Anderson was born on Tuesday, February 21...and our whole family is so in love with this handsome bundle of joy. We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Watson's future best friend and co-troublemaker...and we are thrilled that he is here. These two boys are exactly 7 months apart and I cannot wait to watch them grow up together!

Proud Aunt :)

Graham is in Africa right now so he was not able to be there for the birth...He cannot wait to meet his nephew when he gets home!

And this sweet girl is already a wonderful big sister. She loves to help take care of "Baby Hampy" It is very clear that she is going to have no trouble, whatsoever, keeping these two boys in line :)

Six Months...

What a busy, but wonderful month we have had! I absolutely cannot believe our little man is already 6 months old. That's half way to one year...yikes! Where did the time go?! This has been SUCH a fun month with Watson - he is developing so much every day. I can honestly say that every morning I wake up looking forward to playing with W and seeing just how much he has developed over night. Between the talking, playing, grabbing, watching, laughing, eating and sleeping...this boy stays busy all day long...and consequently, so do I! I would not have it ANY other way, though!

Weight: 17lbs 11oz
Height: 26 1/2 in
Size diaper: 2
Size clothes: 6 months, 6-9 months (some 9 months)
Eating: 6oz 4 times a day, with a fruit after his morning bottle and a vegetable after his evening bottle
Sleeping: We have a wonderful nighttime sleeper on our hands - he sleeps anywhere from 7-8pm to 7-8am...we are so thankful! He has a morning nap (1-2 hrs) and an afternoon nap (1-2 hrs).

W hit a big milestone this month: he can now sit up all by himself! We first noticed it the day after Christmas...he still needed a tiny bit of assistance then, but within about a week or so from that day he was sitting up like a champ! He still topples to the side...or front...or back after sitting for a little while, but we are so proud of him!

We began rice cereal with Watson at 4 1/2 months, but he began his actual baby food at 5 1/2 months. The first food he tried was sweet potatoes - and he LOVED them! He now eats a fruit in the morning and a vegetable at night - all of which are Stage 1 baby foods. His favorites are pears, sweet potatoes, squash and prunes. His least favorite is peas - we have seen the dramatic side of our boy come out when eating peas! Overall, though, W is a great eater and loves his baby food - he gets so excited when he sees me walking towards him with it!

This little boy LOVES to play with his toys and books. It is so cute! When we put him in his exersaucer, he acts like it is his command center. He always gets so focused on what he is playing with and just goes from toy to toy - it is a wonderful thing for me when I am trying to get something done around the house as well :)

W is trying so hard to crawl. He will get up on his knees and stick his little hiney in the air and try to move, but it's just not happening quite yet. He still manages to get to whatever he is reaching for though, usually by rolling back and forth until he gets it!

This month we had our niece, Abby, over for a spend the night party! She loves Watson and helps us take good care of him...always making sure he has his paci and kissing on him...so sweet! W loves watching Abby and usually that includes a big smile on his face.

Before bath time...

Before movie time...

Several months ago, Graham, myself and 2 other friends started a small group that has since grown to include some wonderful people who are quickly becoming great friends! We meet at our house each week - and it is always a highlight of our week to fellowship and study the Word with this group of people. This month we had everyone over to watch the National Championship game.

We love our sweet boy so much and are cherishing this precious time with him.

Memory Lane...

I finally found the charger and cord that go with my point and shoot camera! I had no idea that there would be pictures from all the way back in 2010 on that little camera...guess it has been a good while since I connected it to my computer...whoops :) It was fun looking through all of the pictures though and remembering such great times...

Summer 2010 on the road with Student Life. I am so incredibly thankful for this time in my life!

Fall 2010Trip to California and lots of quality time with Briana!

Fun visits from great friends - this sweet little boy, Mattox, is who made me so excited about possibly having a boy some day (I was not pregnant at the time)
Waiting on Watson...

Three year anniversary...

Watson's first bite of solid food (rice cereal)...

Christmas 2011...
Picture with Santa

Christmas in Tuscaloosa...Watson loved cuddling with Stacy...
Sweet time with the Mattocks' - so thankful for this sweet couple and the strong influence they have had in Graham's life!
Story time with Janza and Grandpa

Christmas...

I have just been doing monthly posts for Watson on our blog lately, but I wanted to do a separate post for Christmas due to all of the pictures that I wanted to include :) I will say that I have been holding off on doing this post because many of our Christmas pictures are on my point and shoot camera, which I cannot upload right now because the battery is dead and I cannot find the charger anywhere...oops. Really hoping it shows up soon!

Our Christmas decorations this year...

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Years break - it was busy, but great! We stayed in Birmingham until the 23rd, so we celebrated Christmas with my family a little early, which was lots of fun.

We headed to Oklahoma on the 23rd and stayed there until the 31st. It was fun getting to spend Watson's first Christmas in Oklahoma. I was VERY nervous about flying with him, but it was honestly not bad at all! He did great, for the most part...I think we successfully avoided being "that family" with the screaming baby on the plane :)

On the plane...

We were able to spend lots of time with Graham's mom and stepdad, as well as his dad and stepmom. Let's just say that between both sets of grandparents in Oklahoma, and my parents, Watson was very well taken care of this Christmas. My goodness!!!

Kisses from NannieCuddling with Grandpa

...don't worry about how long my hair is in these pictures...I got it done while I was in Oklahoma, but my appointment just happened to be after all of these pictures were taken :)

We had to come home on New Years Eve because Graham had to be in Atlanta on January 1 to work at the Passion Conference. I know I talk about it every year, but it is truly amazing the way God is using the Giglios and everyone else on the Passion team to make eternal impact on the lives of thousands and thousands of people around the world. These are some of the most amazing people that you will ever meet - I promise you can trust their leadership. I was so sad not to be there this year, but look forward to making it to the dome next year :) Thankfully, they were streaming the sessions live on their website so I was able to watch them. Each year they have the Do Something Now area (which is where I have worked with Compassion the past two years). This year, the entire Do Something Now area focused on slavery and trafficking - to read more about the organizations that were represented, click here. Between the 40,000+ college aged students that attended, as well as the generous donations from others, Passion 2012 raised over 3 million dollars - every penny of which will go towards the organizations that were represented and the city of Atlanta, which is the hub for trafficking in the United States. Praise God for the ways He led people to give to this cause.

I hope everyone had a wonderful break!

Happy New Year!