Too much fun

Home Sweet Home

Okay, well maybe not quite home yet...but as of March 3rd it will be!! We were able to get into our new apartment on Saturday. Because of the yucky snow and bad weather we decided not to try to move my stuff out of storage. We are able to paint the walls if we paint them back to the original color. After living in rentals for the last 7 years, I am ready for color. We didn't want to invest too much into it, but we did paint one wall in our guest bedroom/office and will paint our room as well. We ran out of time on Saturday but we made some progress none the less. I didn't take very many pictures, but I did capture a few.

This is our guest room/office. I didn't manage to get a before and after picture of it...but the taped wall ended up being an olive green color. I would have loved to do the whole room, but we don't want to have to do too much painting when we move out.

This is what will be the master "suite". It's not really a suite because the bathroom is across the hall, but we do have two closets. One, walk-in for clothes and such, and then one that also houses our washer and dryer, which was delivered Saturday as well. (Thanks Mom and Dad York!)

This is still in the master bedroom. We chose a milky chocolate color. We called it all kinds of things...latte, mocha, milk chocolate, etc. George and I took turns doing the trim work verses doing the roller, but as it turned out...I like trimming and he likes rolling.

We ran out of time the finish it, but here are two of the walls in our room we were able to complete. We're very excited with how it is turning out. Can't wait to get our furniture and really make it home.

Disclaimer...I didn't stand around the whole time and take pictures. I did my fair share...well, I did some work too.

Wedding sneak peak!

Okay, so I am going to try to do some periodic wedding updates. These will serve two purposes...1. for those who ask and would like to know how the wedding stuff is going. 2. To get myself in gear realizing that there is just 43 days until the wedding!!!

Ben, Julie, and Hannah helped George and I assemble, stamp, stuff, label, etc the invitations. Hannah really didn't enjoy the process, but thankfully she was patient enough to let mommy and daddy take shifts helping out.

Ben and Julie's dining room table was covered with envelopes, stamps, labels, ribbon, invitations, paper, and all the works for the "party" we had. Looking at this pictures, I do not know why we had a furry creature helping out with the task. We greatly appreciated their help...THANKS AGAIN AND AGAIN for you all you've done to help us these last few months!

Bouquets? Decorations? Favors? what could this colorful box of flowers be for? Guess you'll have to see on March 3rd!!

Other recent happenings...

• dress fitting completed (just have to pick it up!)
• picked up my ring and wedding band (I love it! Thank you G!)
• Bridemaid's dresses arrived
• cake is ordered
• Non wedding, but rather marriage related, we located our first home and will begin painting and moving some stuff in this weekend, but will not make the official move until March 3rd!!
  

Much is left to do...I'm sure it will all get done in time. Even if it doesn't, I'm sure the end result will be the same. Thanks to everyone who has offered to help. Despite the last few months being quite busy, they have been a lot of fun!

Aren't blogs wonderful?

We have convinced Ben and Julie that they needed to join the blogging world. Feel free to check out their new blog, Count Your Blessings...which is of course, focused on beautiful Hannah.

He ain't heavy, he's my brother

My mom sent several pictures to me today in an e-mail, and I thought I would share one of them with you. Many of us call each other brother and sister, because we are brother and sister in Christ. Well these brothers, brothers in Christ, and brothers in the Anderson family cleary love and care for each other. I'm unsure of the exact situation and why Daniel was in Fadraon's bed; but I would guess Fadraon was waiting for mama to come tuck him in, and Daniel went in to keep him company. While they waited, they both fell fast asleep. I hope this brings a smile to your face as it did mine.

Christmas Morning

Concluding the Christmas posts; we ended our Christmas journey at my parents house, all gathered to open gifts on Christmas morning. Above, Caitlin and Fadraon sit, patiently waiting their turn to open their next gift.

Hannah had been playing with wrapping paper for a good 15 minutes, but all the sudden we looked over and her eyes were quite droopy. Then before we knew it, she dropped the paper and was out like a light. I think all in all she had a wonderful first Christmas.

Emma waiting for her turn as well. It was so much fun watching all of the kids open their gifts and be truly appreciative of them. Caitlin stopped in the midst of opening gifts with Mike and Sarah and said, "Mama, did you buy all these things?" Sarah, said, "yes" and Caitlin quickly said, "Thank you so much mama." We had a wonderful Christmas season visiting our friends and family.

Mizzou? or Illini?

Two of my favorite men got blankets for their favorite teams this year for Christmas. George almost had Daniel and Fadraon converted by the time we left Christmas evening. They had a good time ribbing each other about Mizzou and Illini. I'm afraid George is marrying into the wrong family if he thinks he is going to convert any of my brothers or dad to Illini.

Christmas Eve Evening/Night

As we started a few years ago, we started exchanging "gag" gifts on Christmas Eve. To add an interesting twist you can steal other gifts that have already been opened or choose a gift from the pile. This year I got an "adorable" Santa pigs salt and pepper shaker set, which I quickly took to a white elephant exchange at work. George got a deck of playing card that is some bizarre game. Below are some pictures of the eveing with all the kids already in their pj's. They also were playing Santa and his sleigh and of course the reindeer too! Of course we captured a few pictures of the evening.

Christmas Eve Morning

Continuing the Christmas synopsis....Saturday morning we woke up very early to make it from George's family's home to my parent's home. We left before seven to try to have a little extra time to stop for coffee, stretching, etc but still be able to make it to church on time. While niether of us were very excited about the early time but we were able to witness a beautiful sunrise as we started our journey. Here are a few pictures we captured. Of course the pictures don't do it justice to what it really looked like, but you'll get the idea.

New blog entry below

I started a blog a few days ago on the furry York children, prior to my mom going into the hospital...Little did I know if I saved it as a draft it would publish with the date that I started it...so feel free to scroll down to see picture of the dogs now that I've published it.

She's home

I just have a minute before I go to work, but I wanted to share quickly...Mom is home from the hospital. I was unable to talk to her much yesterday, I wanted her to get settled in without the phone ringing off the hook.

I don't know that there will be much else to share at this point, but if there is, I'll surely pass it along. Again, thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. They are greatly appreciated.

Update on Mom

Several have called, e-mailed, etc. about an update on mom. I'm sorry I have not been able to post sooner. Yesterday morning she had surgery in which they cut out the infection, leaving about a 12 inch incision. To ensure appropriate healing, it will have to be left open and close on its own. There is no official diagnosis, but at this point, they are looking at MRSA, a type of staff infection that became internal and oral antibiotics could not treat it adequately. Before we know anything for sure, we have to wait for pathology reports to come back. They anticipate her going home on Monday, but there is still no definite answer.

I spoke to her a few minutes ago and she said it had been a tough day. She said the pain is not as bad as it was before the surgery, but she continues to be "uncomfortable". She does regularly request pain medication to prevent the pain from getting ahead of her.

Dad has arranged for respite care for the youngest foster child for two weeks, and my mom's sister is coming up to spend the week to help drive kids where they need to go, change diapers, etc. We greatly appreciate the prayers, there has been many blessings in the process and we are so thankful for all of our friends and family that have helped.

Just one story to make you grin...Fadraon was in the hospital several times for days or even weeks, and mom never left his side. The first night Fadraon tried to convince mom that he was going to stay there with her to take care of her through the night. He then proceeded to tell her how much her IV hurt, and that "it would be okay."

Thank you again for all the prayers, we will continue to try to keep everyone posted as to when she goes home, etc. God Bless.

Prayer request for my mom

About a week ago my mom began having trouble with a spot under her arm. Two days ago she was placed on antibiotics. She took them for several days while the area continued to swell and was very painful. She went to the doctor and he quickly admitted her to the hospital. They had hoped to do surgery tonight, but a problem arose and it has now been scheduled for in the morning. The infection spread so rapidly it is in her glands, and is not responding to current antibiotics. I was able to speak to her briefly because she had company, and she sounded fine, but I know she is weary from lack of sleep. It should be a simple surgery, but she will be in the hospital for several days. Please keep her and the doctors in your prayers as she endures this trial. I'm sure my dad would appreciate the prayers as well, he now has several little ones on his hands.

The Furry Yorks

As I promised we have to feature the furry York children. They are brother and sister to each other, but adopted into the York family. They just celebrated their first birthday!!

Here's dad holding one of his babies, Molly.
Mickey was a little more willing to pose for the camera...
...Molly wasn't quite so relaxed in the whole situation.

By the way...if you can't tell them apart, that's okay...I have been around for awhile now and I still have to ask George which one is which.