Anderson Adventures @andersonadventures - Tumblr Blog

We have an exciting new development in our lives...

As I think everyone who reads this blog is already aware, we are expecting our second child in September of this year! Our little munchkin will be almost exactly two years younger than Ellie.

Ellie has no idea what is going on obviously, but I think she will be an amazing big sister. Her favorite thing right now is to be our little helper, and help she does! She partially unloads the dishwasher, loads the washing machine while standing on a stool, stirs meals, and wipes down our surfaces. Even with laundry, she helps me put away clothes that go in lower drawers. I definitely didn’t think one year olds could be so industrious! I have no doubt she will do great with our new baby.

This pregnancy has been a little tougher than my first. Morning sickness is noticeably more intense, and some nights I can’t lie down in bed because it makes me feel nauseous. But sleeping sitting up is not nearly as bad as throwing up several times a day, so I know other women have it worse.

The morning sickness makes me eat more, but surprisingly I am still only 128 pounds at 11 weeks of pregnancy. I wonder if this kid has his/her dad’s metabolism! I am mostly craving healthier foods this time around: fruit, yogurt, cereal, fish tacos, etc. The thought of pizza and burgers makes me feel a little gross.

The only other symptom I have is a new level of exhaustion. This might be related to low blood pressure, but I often feel challenged just doing my daily errands, chores, and outings with Ellie. I fall asleep at 7:30 most nights, sometimes before Ellie goes down. I am nervous about how tired I will probably feel in the last trimester.

I have been wondering whether this child is a boy or a girl, and also whether I have a preference. In one sense I want a girl, because I think the sister relationship is special and I am close with my sister (hi, Susan!); also, we have a lot of girl stuff and I love shopping for baby girl clothing. I already feel sad seeing Ellie outgrow so many adorable things. On the other hand, clothes are a superficial/short lived reason for wanting a girl, and I want to experience being a mother to a son, and watching Steven raise a son as well. Ultimately,we will be thrilled and full of joy either way.

Well there is our baby update! Crazy to think we are already on #2! Life truly does come at you fast.

January has been full of fun new memories. Ellie is a lot of more playful and adventurous when we take her places. She explores with a confidence that slightly worries us, and has been noted by other adults while we are out!

She doesn’t hesitate to go down slides, and when she sees big kids climbing large jungle gyms she gets in line to take her turn. Her favorite activity right now seems to be piggy backs from mom.

This month we did Gymboree for the first time and bought a membership to the Zoo. Ellie loves the monkeys!

At sixteen months, she is loving and smart. She does a lot of simple tasks to help us around the house, putting socks in drawers when we do laundry, trash in the bin when we cook, and legos in the bag when we are done playing.

Bath time continues to be a favorite. She hears the word “bath” and runs screaming to the bathroom door in delight. Meal time is her least favorite, and some days we wonder if she is actually getting enough food. Almost everything gets turned away except for yogurt, fruit, cheese, and pasta. And of course, goldfish. However, if you eat a vegetable nonchalantly in front of her she will demand that you share your food, which is how we trick her into healthy eating 😂

Every day with her is better than the one before.

Ellie’s second Christmas 🎄

The one where she officially became a walker. The one where we spent Christmas Eve at a cozy little restaurant in Laguna Beach, and I made my family a big fancy meal on Christmas Day. The one where Ellie learned to unwrap gifts, and sat on my lap reading Christmas books over and over.

It is actually January 21st today, and she is still bringing me her Christmas books.

I think we are finally crossing the threshold where we can share the joy of holidays with our sweet baby girl.

We are finally welcoming fall this week! All these photos are from the trail that runs next to our apartment. I love how this city is designed to draw us outdoors!

In other news, Ellie has her molars coming in and is a little extra sassy these days.

What’s New With Ellie This Week?

Ellie had a developmental growth spurt this week, and she also tried some new and fun activities during our time together!

First, Ellie began eating sandwiches the way they were intended! Same with bananas. She seems to be doing well with almost any kind of food now, and can bring a spoon to her mouth. The area we need to work on is dipping the spoon in the bowl to collect the food.

We went to a program called “Baby Steps” at Pretend City in Irvine on Monday. Pretend City is exactly what it sounds like: a city for toddlers and preschoolers in a big warehouse close to our old apartment. It has roads with stop signs and lights, and your little one can “drive” around and stop at a variety of locations, including a post office, Trader Joes, Police Station, Beach, Science Research Center, Farm, House, etc...the list goes on. There was so much to do and we only had a 90 minute time slot. Once she is a little more into pretend play, and is able to walk, I think we will buy an annual membership.

This is Ellie playing at the “Beach” in Pretend City. She had been around sand multiple times at this point and never attempted to put it in her mouth. Unfortunately, the next day we had a playdate with my Moms group at a park, and Ellie did eat sand for the first time. Let’s just say she didn’t make that mistake twice.

Ellie is slowly getting interested in technology. Her attention was held for a solid two minutes during this song and dance show, and she has been playing more with her two battery operated toys. This is both a blessing and a curse, since it distracts her for long periods of time, but is also noisy! Overall, she is still not into TV...she mostly watched for a few seconds and then moves on to other activities. I’m actually hoping she gets into it before our flight to Kansas in a month.

We go to playgrounds 1-2 times each day, and Ellie has enjoyed climbing on the jungle gyms and going down the slides. Even though she can’t walk yet, she is able to climb up a slide unassisted. Weird, right? Here she is hanging out and waiting for her friend to come for our playdate.

Ellie has figured out how to stand pretty much on her own, which has brought her into a new level of exploration. She is reaching to higher points, which is both scary and exciting. This week she managed to knock over my jewelry box, scattering earrings all over the carpet. She also can grab the door knobs now, and the oven handle (yikes!). Yesterday I saw her opening some cabinet doors she’s never been able to access, and she even tried to crawl inside of the one above!

Lastly, Ellie has begun pointing at so much, with so much excitement. She is very interactive, and tries to pretend to be like us. She “talks” to us on her play phone, “cleans” the coffee table with a wipe, and “dresses” herself if we set her clothes on the floor. When I say she dresses herself though, I mean she tries to fit her leg into the neck hole of her shirt.

Weekends have been pretty blissful lately. Last weekend we stayed with Steven’s sister and brother-in-law, and they watched Ellie so we could enjoy a really nice date out at a delicious Indian restaurant. We also bought Ellie her Halloween costume the same night, and enjoyed some dessert at a froyo place nearby. It was really nice having alone time together.

The next day we all went to the pumpkin patch, where Ellie had a blast with the animals. She has taken to pointing excitedly at the birds, and is also enamored by her aunt and uncles cats, so we figured this was a good time to introduce her to the petting zoo. The patch also had a sunflower field, which allowed us to take some sweet pictures. Ellie has a cute Halloween dress, but it’s been too warm for her to wear it this season. Even this week, we have highs climbing to 95!

It has been a little while since I’ve updated, thanks to a crazy final month at my job. Even though it ended on 9/27, I had to scramble in my first week out to prepare lecture material for 10/2, and organize meetings on 10/3.

After spending about 15 hours working from home last week with an unpredictable toddler, I’ve learned that life is still going to be incredibly chaotic moving forward. That being said, I feel really fortunate that I have been able to bring in two extra sources of incoming into our household for the next few months. It relieves stress on our day to day spending, while allowing us to continue to put away money every month for an eventual house.

Our little Ellie is so interactive now. When we ask her where her nose is, she will most definitely point to either her nose or one of ours, and as I walk down the grocery aisle she points to random items that interest her. She plays with paper, and will pass it back and forth to us. In particular, she has been really into all of her one year old birthday cards from family and friends. She is also really into the dishwasher, as is apparent from above :)

This week she got to see two new parks - one in Aliso Viejo and one the Great Park Neighborhood of Irvine. We do a lot outside - swings, slides, horizontal tunnels, etc., but I am really looking forward to her walking so she can explore the world around her even more.

This week I have to go into work just one day - Wednesday evening - and I am anticipating putting in 12-15 hours from home as well. So it will be hectic, but in the interim period we have lots of fun plans!

We spent Labor Day enjoying multiple walks in the summer weather. In the afternoon we drove to Newport Beach and walked the Sculpture Garden before grabbing Gelato next door.

It was a nice holiday weekend.

You are loved beyond measure, baby Ellie. I am glad you enjoyed your first birthday party. 🎁🎂👶🏻

How Ellie Spent Her Birthday

Ellie’s first birthday landed on the Friday before Labor Day weekend. She already had her one month check up scheduled for 8:30am, so I decided to take her out of daycare for the day and spend some special 1:1 time with my daughter. The first adventure to the doctor was less than amazing, but she took her shots like a champ and only cried for 2-3 minutes afterward.

She passed out when we got in the car, and stayed asleep as I took a detour to Party City to pick up some last minute supplies. At home, she played nicely while I worked remotely. We enjoyed a messy spaghetti lunch, and she enjoyed a long nap.

I got an early release for the holiday (yay!) so we took full advantage of the afternoon. First we went to the Irvine Heritage Park Library, where we not only looked at books, but played in the toy area, watched ducks and geese by the pond, and had some fun at the playground and splash pad.

Lastly, we got this sweet card from Aunt Susan and Uncle Jared in the mail. I know Ellie doesn’t appreciate this now, but I’m hoping when she’s older this will be a good reminder of how much her mom’s side of the family loves her, even though they live very far away.

Exploring The Great Park Trails

Tonight Ellie and I went to an area near Woodbury, which continues to confuse and fascinate me. The area is the “Great Park” of Irvine, and it has been surrounded by controversy since it opened around the time of the Great Recession. Originally, this area was used as an Air Force Base, and it actually took quite some time to “clean” the toxins out of the ground so houses could be built (https://ocweekly.com/toxics-what-toxics-6383531/).

The developers of the park and surrounding neighborhoods have promised a pretty exquisite product that would make The Great Park, well, great. But so far the development seems to have fallen pretty flat and allegations have been made that public funds were mishandled. Among other things, $12,000 was spent to pay a consultant to change one word in a report on the groundwater.

I’ve been to the park a few times. Once, when Susan visited, and we stayed at a house in the neighborhood. We also came a couple times to look at the models and tour the parks, and then this time I wanted to see the public trail and community playground. I have to say, I really enjoyed the solitude. There were a lot of residents at the private pool nearby, but very few people in this area.

It was a good aerobic walk, with pretty rolling hills for scenery. Ellie fell asleep on the way there, and then woke up in the car after our walk, so she had no idea that we took this trip!

I think in the future, this will be a great park to take bikes/scooters to early in the morning or after dinner.

It was way too sunny for a midday trip, and probably better for late fall through early spring. Even at 5:30pm in August, the temps were around 75 and it was a little intense for me. I definitely was sweating by the time we got home.

This shot gives a glimpse of some of the modern architecture used throughout the neighborhood. It is novel and interesting, but not something that we would probably be interested in.

A Morning in Tustin

Ellie and I did a little exploration today, starting with Citrus Ranch Park in Tustin. This is a fully accessible park (stroller friendly) with winding trails and epic views.

Even on a beautiful Saturday morning in summer, it wasn’t too busy. We arrived shortly after 9am and the temps were perfect (around 75 degrees). The trail is strewn with lemons, and flanked by lemon groves.

Here is a paved trail at the bottom of the park, near the playground area.

Ellie taking in the views...dreaming about the day when she can play on some of the awesome equipment!

Here is one view of the playground...

And another. I loved the lemon theme throughout the entire park!

Afterward we went to Tustin Library down the road, for the first time. It was such a sunny, bright, and large space. Ellie had this playroom to herself for a little bit.

Looking forward to revisiting this library in the future, especially as she gets older. On the way out I noticed their summer programs included a magician and opportunities to read to animals. One of the things I love about the public library is that it provides such a wonderful and safe environment for kids. During the summer, any child can eat lunch here for free during the week, which is a huge benefit for families who are food insecure.

Now we are back home. Steven is getting his oil changed, Ellie is napping, and this mama is looking forward to a hot shower and relaxation after 2 hours out!

#ocparks #oclibraries #familyadventures

Ellie’s Sick Week at 11 Months

When you have kids, illness doesn’t rain. It pours in miserable waves for at least a week. I had my first day back at work Wednesday (taking Monday and Tuesday off because of food poisoning), and we got a call around 2pm from Childtime saying Ellie had a fever of 102. Steven picked her up, gave her some medicine, and the rest of the day was pretty chill and relaxed.

Fast forward to Thursday, and Ellie’s mild fever increased steadily every half hour. Once it got to 103.5, I was ready to take her to the ER. By the time we got there, it had jumped to 105.4. Turns out she had a UTI. Thanks to antibiotics and Motrin, we’ve been able to get her back to normal pretty quickly.

Then last night we began the fun process of bottle weaning. And as I type this, my daughter is screaming at me because she’s hungry but refuses to drink her formula out of a sippy cup. I want to be patient and give her another month or two, but her daycare is putting a hard stop to her bottles in a few weeks, and we need to get her adjusted before then. Not to mention she has to stop formula on August 30, and she is still at around 5 bottles per day.

That being said, we are not stopping cold turkey. Per some advice I saw on a few websites, we are putting water in her bottles, and formula in her sippy cups. Therefore, she can still have a bottle, but her preferred drink is no longer in it.

I’ve read it can take anywhere from a few days to a week for kids to get through this rough stage, and the tantrums have not been fun. I think Steven wants to give into her and let the daycare deal with the hard transition. But from my perspective, if we don’t get used to setting rules and boundaries for our child now, then we probably won’t be very good parents or disciplinarians later on down the road. One silver lining of bottle weaning is that it may also force the formula weaning. So far today she has only had one cup of formula, and it’s already past noon.

Once we get through this step, the next fun adjustment will be letting go of the pacifier :((((

The Sickest Weekend in Pasadena

Last weekend my cousin was in North LA, and my Pasadena Book Club was also scheduled to meet for brunch in Pasadena on Sunday morning. Steven and I came up with an amazing idea to turn these events into a staycation. It was meant to make up for the Memorial Day SLO trip we had to cancel (due to the weather being rainy and in the 50s), as well as the trip we had to the Smoky Mountains where we were sick most of the time.

Well, our idea was great in theory, but the day before we were scheduled to leave I started to get a mild stomach ache and lost my appetite. I was not feeling up for traveling, but our hotel reservation as the Westin was $250 and non-refundable, so I told Steven I was going to rally because I didn’t want to miss out on a fun time. Clearly I needed to pay more consideration to the sunk cost theory, because our “fun time” consisted of me barely making it into the hotel before vomiting into my purse by the elevator, and then spending the next 24 hours in a bed.

Granted, the bed was REALLY comfy.

We did manage to sneak down to the hotel restaurant Saturday night so I could enjoy some ambiance while Steven ate calamari and salad.

And I have to say, the hotel was really beautiful. If you have to be stuck in a hotel, the Westin is definitely the place to be.

Here is Ellie kicking back at the table. She was pretty good the whole weekend, which helped us both survive.

On Sunday we drove back to Irvine, and I camped out in bed while Steven took care of the baby, chores, and errands. I don’t know how single parents do it! Especially with multiple kids. Having one adult down for the count really has a noticeable effect.

Ellie’s bow turning into a bow tie is one very small example of the chaos from last Sunday.

Glad to be done with food poisoning for awhile hopefully!

Evidence of a Date

This weekend we are bogged down in the trauma of trying to wean Ellie off of both formula and her pacifier, but between her screaming at BJs Friday night, and a pretty much ongoing tantrum on Sunday, we did manage to enjoy a great Saturday date in Rancho Cucamonga.

We saw “The Art of Self-Defense”, which was hilarious in a strange way. We really enjoyed it. Afterward, we went to Paul Martin’s American Grill and indulged in cocktails, burgers and this amazing butter cake.

Early in the day, I even managed some solo pool time with a good book..

Alright, back to the joys of parenting...

Ellie’s First 4th of July

Things have been so busy lately that I just realized I never posted about our 4th of July! We went over to the Anderson’s house to celebrate, and it was a nice “ramp up” to our vacation we were leaving on two days later.

There were no fireworks for Ellie this year (I got sick the night of the 4th), but we did enjoy beautiful weather and fun times with family.

This was a big improvement to last year, when we stayed in and got Del Taco (because nothing else was open). I am hoping next year we make it even better, and make sure Ellie sees a firework show.

Tennessee Adventures

We spent a week in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, flying in and out of Charlotte, North Carolina. The trip had its ups and downs, but overall we really enjoyed ourselves and were so happy we went.

On traveling with a baby: Delta was way better than American when it came to taking care of families. In December when we flew Delta, we boarded first and were placed among other families. With American we boarded last, and also were treated pretty poorly by one airline agent who became agitated that he couldn’t get tags to fit around out car seat (all the other people who worked for American had no problem). To add insult to injury, our first flight was delayed, causing us to miss our connection and delay our trip by one day.

The silver lining was that we had trip insurance, and the cost of our hotel and the upgraded seating on our flights was refunded to us.

When we did finally arrive in Charlotte, we were relieved because Ellie had done well and we were all in a pretty awesome mood. We met up with Lindsey, my best friend since college, and checked out a really neat restaurant/bar in uptown Charlotte.

Granted, when we got to this restaurant it was already 9:30pm and there was a bouncer outside. I had to laugh at how silly I was when I made my plans. Of course you can’t bring a baby to a bar! But as it turns out, the bouncer was accommodating since they were still serving food, and we were able to enjoy some drinks and fried Okra.

The next day we arrived at our cabin near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and it was breathtaking. Overlooking the National Park, we enjoyed complete privacy with plenty of room to spread out and relax.

Over the next few days we enjoyed a lot of family time as we embarked on excursions to Dollywood, Ziplining, Mountain Coasting, and the National Park. Despite a couple illnesses working their way through the family, I think everyone really enjoyed themselves.

Dollywood and Dolly’s Stampede were on a particularly hot day, so we relished the few moments when we could be near the water!

Steven, Ellie, and I enjoyed a long drive through the National Park. It wasn’t nearly as crowded as we were warned it would be.

And on the way back it only took us one day to get home, which was a relief after our 3 day journey getting to the cabin. We are already looking forward to our next trip back, where hopefully we can do a lot more of the family activities and maybe even see the Biltmore Estate!

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Anderson Adventures