embrace the camera: june 30th

it's about time that i had an embrace picture with little miss on here.

i wish i could say that things with elsa have been oh-so-amazing...she is truly a sweet little thing...and super easy...but 2 weeks after she came home is when i started puking and quite honestly, any bonding that i had hoped to do with her, took a back seat.

i'm sure it's harsh to hear this, but i honestly felt like she was just one more child to take care of (at the time).

i could barely take care of myself and now i had 5 children to handle...one of whom, was new to the family.

things have started changing since i've started feeling better.

she has adapted so well, and we couldn't have asked for a better child to come into our family.

she fits in so perfectly with all of the other crazies running around here, and i'm slowly, but surely, embracing her as my daughter more and more everyday.



so, are you ready to embrace the camera?

here's the nitty gritty:

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

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

3.  link your blog post up on the link tool 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!

sponsor highlight/give-a-way day.

it's a fun day today around here!

once a month (when i'm not puking), i like to highlight the fabulous shops that support this here blog...and they in turn like to give y'all a lil' something something.

if you have a fun shop or blog and would like to sponsor our blog, please email me at

andersonfamilycrew(@)gmail(.)com.

spots start on the 1st of the month and there are 2 options in ads.

email me for rates and details.

okay, so let's get started, shall we?

first up is the sweet laura from lillypie accessories.

she's been hanging around on this blog here for quite a while and we love having her!

she is giving away this adorable set of shoe clips (the shoes aren't bad either):

check out her blog and shop...she is having an amazing sale right now in honor of her shop anniversary too!
happy shopping.

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up next is rachel from love is rising.
the proceeds from her adorable shop go to their adoption fund!

rachel is giving away a set of earrings!
you can check out her blog and shop.

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next we have the lovely erin from the vintage pearl.
i'm pretty sure everyone adores her jewelry.

erin is giving away a $50 shop credit...woo-hoo!
check out her new blog, and shop.

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and last, but certainly not least is our newest sponsor, close 2 my art.
this shop is fun and funky.  'nuff said.
(okay, i'm gonna say a little more)
they have everything from whimsical clocks to fun soap dispensers (aka, soap spitters).
this shop puts a smile on my face :)

they are offering a $25 shop credit!

michelle is the creator behind it...you can check out her blog and the shop.

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so to enter this give-a-way, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post.

a winner will be announced friday morning (7/1).

1 winner will win all the loot...as my kids say, lucky ducky.

thanks to my fabulous sponsors :)

so, happy commenting, and happy shopping if you're so inclined.

thoughts on baby #6.

i still don't think i've wrapped my brain around the fact that we're having another baby.

i mean, i see my belly growing (daily), but it just isn't sinking in.

i've never had a "surprise" pregnancy (unless you count caedmon...and we were just surprised we got pregnant so quickly...like, on our honeymoon...yah, that was sweet).

for those of you who have had surprise babies...does it ever sink in?

we had our life planned.

5 was good.

5 was a lot.

i fully expected this little monkey to be the caboose to our train:

and now, just like that...there shall be another caboose.

with each passing milestone that kohen has gone through, i've mourned the fact that i wouldn't be going through it again...and now, i will be going through it again.

it's just all a lot to think about.

don't get me wrong...we are (now) excited about having another baby...it's just not the path we thought we would be taking.

i felt like i was finally "seeing the light at the end of the tunnel"...as kohen was getting older, i felt my life getting (somewhat) easier.  now we'll be starting over!

i'm just praying that this baby is another milo.

i mean, he was the best baby...slept a ton...ate like a champ...fat as could be...never made a peep.  we often had to make sure we had milo in the car when we would go places, cause we thought we had forgotten him at home.

  he was that quiet.

kohen was (and is) the exact opposite of this.  i'm sure the lord would love to give us another kohen.

i love the kid, but he wears me out.

or maybe all 5 of them wear me out.

or maybe this pregnancy wears me out.

whatever it is, i'm worn out.

so, as each day passes, and we get more and more closer to meeting another little anderson, i have to remind myself that my plans are just that...my plans.

not the lords.

and ultimately, i'd rather follow his path for our life, than mine.

so, i embrace this little peanut growing.

i know life will be that much harder, but i also know it will be that much sweeter.

mr. anderson and i make some cute babies, and i don't mind having another little asian to look at :)

but 6 kids.

seriously?

i used to think that people with 6 kids were crazy.

and soon, that shall be me.

lovely.

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okay, so i found out a bit more about the circle of moms deal.

you can vote once a day till july 14th (if you feel so inclined--thank you!)

it's really simple...just click on this link and click on our thumbs up button.

super easy!

smooch.

how to give a good smooch.

step 1:

come in for the kiss...open mouth is best.

step 2:

lay one on each other...open mouth still (who taught him to kiss like that?)

step 3:

close the mouth...it's the proper thing to do.

step 4:

and finally, close the eyes.

step 5:

laugh nervously because you just realized your mama took pictures of you open mouth kissing your sister and she might use that for blackmail one day.



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our blog was nominated for top 25 family blogs over at circle of moms.

i'm not entirely sure how it works, but i do know you have to vote for us.

you can click here and vote!

15 weeks.

happy weekend to you.



pictures taken by hadley...dress is from old navy...baby in belly courtesy of mr. anderson.

embrace the camera: june 23rd

we are embracing the camera again...finally.

here is kohen with me and my growing belly.  i need to post a bump shot cause it's seriously growing by the minute.

i love sharing my seat with that crazy boy.

so, are you ready to embrace the camera?

here's the nitty gritty:

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

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

3.  link your blog post up on the link tool 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!



worn out.

seriously.

after 2 weeks of traveling which included driving 20+ hours and flying 10+hours with 5 littles, this too is how i felt:

we are in kansas now for the summer. 

 no more traveling for a while!  well, at least not for me and the kids.

mr. anderson is flying back and forth from orlando to here cause you know, he's got to make the dolla dolla bills and support his (apparently) never ending growing family.

i'm slowly but surely getting back into the blogging scene.

hoooorah!

thanks for hanging in there with me through the past few icky months...

it's been a long time.

i'm sitting here and i think i've forgotten how to blog.

so, i'll just leave you with a picture of what our fathers day looked like:

i don't want to jinx myself but i think i'm feeling better these days...

embrace the camera: june 2nd

i'm a little late this morning...story of my life.

first off, let's talk about embrace the camera.

i always post the rules at the end, but i'm afraid people aren't reading them, cause week after week i have people link up that i don't think understand what embrace the camera is about.

ETC is not getting your camera out and taking a photo.

it's getting your camera out and GETTING IN A PHOTO.

the whole point of it is to have pictures of yourself with your kids, spouse, friends, etc.

if you aren't in a photo, then you aren't embracing the camera.

make sense?

also, please please PLEASE link up your actual blog post and NOT JUST YOUR BLOG.

sorry for the all caps, but i just don't think people are hearing me.

this is not an absurd rule, as most "linky parties" have this same guideline.

i love that everyone participates each week---i really do...and we just surpassed a year of embracing the camera!  some of you have been with us since the beginning, and now you have a year of pictures that you are in.  way to go ladies!

okay, moving on.

this week caedmon moved on up to 2nd grade, while hadley graduated from pre-k.

we've sat through 2 awards and graduation ceremonies for our kiddos...they really are growing up so fast.

next year i will have 4 kids in school.

little kohen will be the only one home (until this bean arrives).

what will kohen and i do besides eat bon-bons on the couch all day?

here's hadley and i after her graduation.

notice, i no longer have roots.

so, as if this blog hasn't been quiet around here lately, it's about to get a lot quieter.

due to my mom's health, we made a decision to spend the summer in kansas.

we leave tomorrow morning to drive there...will arrive on saturday...then fly to california on monday (to have a visit with mr. andersons family)...then 2 weeks later, fly back to KS, to spend the rest of the summer there.

busy few weeks ahead and i can't promise any sort of blogging.

i am 12 weeks prego today and was hoping i would have woken up feeling like a new woman, but the nausea is still there (imagine that).

pray for us!

for a safe drive.

for a safe flight to and from cali.

for our health (especially mine--i don't want to be sick anymore!)

we appreciate the prayers...and after our crazy 2 weeks in california, i'll hopefully be back in the blogging scene, but i can't promise anything.

okay, enough rambling.

now it's time for you to embrace the camera.

so, are you ready to embrace the camera?

here's the nitty gritty:

1.  take a picture with you and your kids/spouse/family member/friend/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!