some favorites.

with the end of 2010, i thought it would be fun to post some of my favorite pictures, that never made it to the blog (well, at least i don't think they made it to the blog---i have a mothers brain, forgive me).

of course, i had about 50 chosen and had to narrow them down.

so, enjoy.

mom and a camera.

when you've been married for a while, it's okay to let your husband pick your nose for you.

one day i said "caedmon, go in and get a jacket on"...and he returned with this...kohen's coat.  he said it was hanging in his closet and he thought it was his.

nice.

yup, this is how we roll in our house.

our beloved car passing 200,000 miles on it.

and an extremely dirty piece of plastic covering it.

at the end of the school year, each kid at caedmons school gets a "character award"...caedmon earned "understanding" last year and was oh so proud.

milo, just being handsome.

oh man people...lock your girls up, lock your women up...

hadley being just like mommy with her sling for her baby doll.

teaching herself how to play the piano.

i have a feeling she's going to be big time one day.

being bored during the summer...making lots of contraptions.

this particular one involved cups and paper towels...and of course, lego men.

oh heeeeey.

you're cute.

my sister and i.

rocking the ray bands.

milo being very excited for his birthday week.

oh man...brothers.

i love them.

the oldest and the youngest.

these 2 are SO much alike.

learning to sit by himself...such a cute picture.

didn't you know you can just fall asleep where ever you'd like?

kohen knows this.

scary blueberry monster face.

and one of my most favorites...

milo, his long hair, and the beach.



happy new year ya'll!

see ya in 2011 :)

nourish

if you've read this blog for a while, you know that our daughter struggles with severe eczema.

not just, an itch here or there, but eczema that (when it's really bad) covers her hands, arms, neck and legs.

one of our sponsors this month, nourish baby organics, sells products for babies and mamas...

here's what i read on her website:

All babies, children and adults can benefit from our products especially those suffering from skin conditions such as eczema or psoriasis. We know first hand how traumatizing eczema can be and it is our mission as a mom owned and operated company to provide safe and natural alternatives in nourishing all skin!

naturally, i was very intrigued.

melissa contacted me and sent me some of her products to try out...i was originally just going to use them with hadley, but once i received them, i started using them on all the kids.  we have gotten to try the lavender wash, seen here:

and the lavender balm:

with a combination of things (including herbs and vitamins) hadley's eczema has cleared up for now.  i use the wash on her, in the bath (i wouldn't recommend using it on eczema that is open, as the lavender might sting it---i've noticed this with hadley, that when she has a little eczema that is open, it stings a bit).

i also use the wash with the other kids.

at bath time for them, i squirt some in the running water (just like you would do with bubble bath) and it fills the bath with a lavender aroma...makes me feel relaxed just typing.

then i use the balm on them, after bath time.  particularly on kohen, as i feel like he sometimes has trouble sleeping...i feel like the lavender helps him to relax.

i also use the balm on my hands...they tend to get very dry during the winter.

all in all, we've loved our products.  i can honestly say that hadley's eczema has been doing so great.  i know it's a combination of things, but i am confident that this wash has helped her skin with the healing process, so for the time being, we are sticking with it.

check out her blog and shop for more info and prices (which are very reasonable).

thanks melissa for the great products!

embrace the camera: dec. 30th

is it really the last embrace the camera of the year?

2010 was just beginning, and now we are saying goodbye.

the end of 2010 marks the end of 3 years here in orlando.  i quite honestly feel like i'm on this long vacation...that i haven't really moved away from kansas.

but alas...here i sit...in florida.

living in orlando, does have it's perks though.

disney passes, for instance.

we decided to take advantage of a deal last year, and have enjoyed disney passes this year.

it's been nice to go to disney, whenever we'd like---totally by-pass the busy times and head there when it's not so crazy.

mr. anderson and i have also used our passes to take the kids on "date nights"...

this particular night, i took caedmon for a magic kingdom date.

i love this kid and his amazing smile.

the castle really is magical with the christmas lights on.



and now....it's your turn.

here are the official rules:

1.  take a picture with you and your kids/spouse/family member/pet/whatever.

2.  blog about that picture and include a link to our blog, or grab our button.

3.  link your blog post up on mr. linky below.

4.  visit the other embracers...give each other lots of compliments about how good we look with our greasy hair and sweatpants velour jogging suits on.  cause yah, we need a little boost when it's been days since our last shower.

5.  have fun!

so there ya have it...the last embrace the camera of 2010.

thanks for joining me, every week since may!

have fun embracing.

why ethiopia?

my grandparents got us a globe for christmas.

it was a fitting gift...and came to us right before mr. anderson left for africa.

we were able to "see where daddy was" while he was on his long flights to and from.

 

so, as i walked into the boys room the other day, i got so perturbed, seeing that one of them had put a gigantic red sticker on this globe.

our beautiful globe.

my immediate thought was "who the heck did this and why don't they know how to take care of our things?!"

but then upon further inspection, i noticed where this "big, giant, red sticker was placed".

a heart over addis ababa, the city where elsa resides.

caedmon came running up to me, so completely proud and beaming, saying "look, i put a heart sticker where elsa is, cause she's our sister and we love her!"

my heart broke (and i quickly forgave myself for the bout of anger i had going on inside of me for the sticker in the first place).

my immediate thoughts were "they get it"...they are understanding the fact that we have a part of our family on the other side of the world.

and in that moment, i was very thankful.

 

so, i'm often asked why we chose to adopt from ethiopia...i can't really give more of an answer than "the Lord has called us to adopt from there"...really.  i never would have said we would have a child from ethiopia.  but now, here we are...so close to having her in our home.

 

the statistics for this country are heart breaking.

see for yourself:

 

• One in six children die before their fifth birthday

• 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old

• 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition

• The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years

• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)

• 720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone, and there are 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia (this number varies, some say there is as many as 6 million orphans).

• Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa

• In the 90s the population (3%) grew faster than food production (2.2%)

• Drought struck the country from 2000-2002 (first year no crops, second year no seeds, third year no animals)

• Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school. 88% will never attend secondary school.

• Coffee prices (Ethiopia’s only major export) fell 40-60% from 1998-2002.

• Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000.

• In 1993, after 30 long years of war, Eritrea broke from Ethiopia and became an independent nation leaving Ethiopia landlocked without any major seafaring ports.



so i ask you...where is your heart residing?

maybe you're not ready for adoption at this point, but i pray that the Lord uses this blog to show you that you don't have to be a small family...you don't have to be a rich family...you don't have to be a perfect family to adopt.

i know many of you have emailed me with specific questions regarding our adoption journey.

if i haven't answered them, please leave them in the comments section of this post and i will answer :)

dinnertime battles.

dinnertime is never without a battle in this house.

it mostly involves a certain 3 year old who refuses to eat anything but carbs and sweets.

this time, the battle was:

milo vs. the pea

up until now, we've let milo slide with not having to try his food.

i put everything that we were having for dinner on his plate, and he either ate it, or he didn't.

his choice.

well, now, since he's 3 1/2 we've decided to establish the same rule that the other kids have to abide by:

you must take at least one bite of your food.

this particular night, the one bite that he needed to eat was a pea.

i have to pick and choose my battles wisely, and normally, this would not be a wise battle with such a stubborn 3 year old.

but finally, after a few hours of sitting there, staring at the pea, he ate it.

not gonna lie, it took a lot of threatening for that pea to make it down his throat.

caedmon (our oldest) is a great eater now...which gives me hope that what we've done actually works well...because i can remember having these same battles with caedmon.

i can see the light at the end of the very long tunnel.

why can't milo be like kohen and eat everything?

including the beans that he just smeared all over his face?



dinnertime battles:

mommy 1, milo 0.

christmas traditions.

i meant to have this post for ya'll last week, before christmas, but my mind was in a different place.

so, here ya go...if you like any ideas, you have 363 days to perfect them to your own family.

a few of our favorite christmas traditions.

the first one is my favorite and it involves the presents.

each little person gets their own wrapping paper---none of the gifts are marked, and in order to know which gifts are theirs, they have to find a tiny piece of their wrapping paper in the bottom of their stocking.

it's a little last minute excitement, as they see the gifts, but don't know which belongs to who :)

the front gifts are from us---the 193,000 other gifts are from grandparents.

since moving here, christmas morning has been over the top, because relatives send their gifts, and we wait till christmas morning to open them.

tradition #2:

each kiddo gets 3 gifts (from us):  a WANT, a NEED and a SURPRISE.

we've done this every year since caedmon was born, and i really like the idea of it.  it keeps christmas simple for us, and works for now.  i imagine things might change one day when they start asking for more expensive items.

tradition #3:

christmas eve---we all open christmas jammies that have already been washed and are ready to put on.  after jammies, the kids get another present which involves books.  so, not only do they get the 3 gifts on christmas morning, but on christmas eve they also get something to WEAR and something to READ.

the kids know they are getting these 2 gifts and look forward to them all day.

this year, after church service that evening we added a new tradition of eating ice cream sundaes and drinking hot chocolate...all in our new jammers...when we were finished we watched a short christmas movie, then read our books, then off to bed!

it was really fun this year...and i realized that we're gonna need a bigger couch next year to fit kohen (he was already in bed) and elsa, while we all snuggle and watch the movie under warm blankets :)

christmas morning we usually have a big breakfast of french toast or pancakes...and we spend the day playing with our new toys and taking naps.

mr. anderson and i decided (the first year caedmon was born) that no matter where we lived, we would always stay home for christmas.  i like that we made that decision, but it does make christmas a little sad, not being around family.

i enjoy making traditions with my husband and children, but i do miss friends and family.

at this point, traveling with all of the littles at christmas time, dragging gifts to and from, it just all sounds to complicated, so for now we stay home :)

i hope my kids remember the things we do for a lifetime...and that it helps them to understand the importance of establishing traditions with their own family.

i'd love to hear what your traditions are...i'm always looking for fun ideas to do with the family.

merry christmas to you.

all photos taken by sarah bray photography

deer image found here

embrace the camera: dec. 23rd

did ya'll see our big news yesterday?

we are so excited to share her with you...finally!

well, today's embrace the camera is what me and the kids will look like, later this afternoon, as we pick up daddy at the airport (kohen was taking a nap for this picture).

did you know mr. anderson was in ethiopia this past week?

well yes, yes he was.

he got to meet miss elsa, and attend our court date.

i can't wait to share pictures and stories from his adventures.

aaaaaaaaaand, we are so excited to have him home!

just in time for christmas :)



and now....it's your turn.

here are the official rules:

1.  take a picture with you and your kids/spouse/family member/pet/whatever.

2.  blog about that picture and include a link to our blog, or grab our button.

3.  link your blog post up on mr. linky below.

4.  visit the other embracers...give each other lots of compliments about how good we look with our greasy hair and sweatpants velour jogging suits on.  cause yah, we need a little boost when it's been days since our last shower.

5.  have fun!

and, can i just add that it makes me smile to see how many people have been joining in on our embracing party!

but not just that people are joining in, but that people are getting it...understanding the importance of having yourself in pictures...for your spouses sake...for your childrens sake...for your parents sake...for everyones sake.

now, get on with your hot self and take some pictures.

not sure how to title this post.

i could think of a million cheesy one liners.

some clever ones too.

but really, there are no words, except...

ladies and gents, meet our new daughter, elsa.

{photo courtesy of motley family blog}

our sweet, 3 year old little elsa.
just got news that we passed court and now we wait for her to come home...which is looking like february now.

i'm so glad ya'll can finally meet her.