Christmas Take 2

Mr. and Mrs. Clause

Whitney & David working on the puzzle


The Anderson North Pole!

The stocking where hung

Christmas Day David picked me up from work with the car packed full of gifts, the dog in tow, and ready to go! We traveled to Atlanta to spend time with the Anderson's. We opened gifts the next morning and had a great breakfast. This year we had a little stocking hung by ours for "baby Anderson." We received gifts for the baby and now have baby things at our house for the first time! One of our favorite gifts was a stroller for the baby, which we can't wait to use. Everyone completed the traditional Harley Davidson puzzle late on the December 26th. For Christmas dinner, David's mom and aunt made his grandmother's potato salad (which I wish I could get the recipe for) among other things. I couldn't help but to think forward to next Christmas, when there will be 3 little ones!

Christmas Take 1

My mom
David and me at my mom's house

Our Tree



Tree skirt




A is for Anderson

This year I feel as though I have tried my hardest to slow down and enjoy the season. Every year I say I will have all my shopping done weeks before Christmas, but you can guess that expectation never gets met! This year I work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Honestly, working is NOT as bad as being home alone with the dog and cat like David will be:( I will never forget the 1st Christmas we were married, I worked and David went to Waffle House alone for breakfast on Christmas morning! That brings tears to my eyes again! I know the babies need nurses on Christmas too, but it doesn't make leaving my husband alone any easier.

Anyhow, this year we celebrated with mom the weekend before Christmas. We made the traditional breakfast complete with chocolate gravy my grandmother used to make. Mom nailed it right on the head this year, which is hard to do since there is "no recipe." We later went to see "Four Christmases." She will be spending Christmas in New York this year. I must say it sounds fun and hope to do it some day! The following day we spent with my mom's brothers and their families. I have a large extended family when you start counting cousins, aunts, and uncles! It was the first time I had seen them since we announcing that I'm expecting. It was great to see everyone and catch up! Later, we met up with Stephen and Jessica and went to the Transiberian Orchestra concert. Wow, bring your sunglasses....this groups loves laser lights and flames! It was great!

The Nutcracker...

This year my mom and I went to the Nashville Ballet Nutcracker. Looking back, I can't believe I had never been before now. I danced from the time I was three until I was eighteen, so as you can imagine I loved it! This year they had new costumes and a new set. We sat in the 4th row from the Nashville Symphony Orchestra-fabulous seats! We were so close we could see the dancers breathing. The ages of the dancers ranged from around 4 years old and up. I hope to go again next year. There are few more showing this season if you can make it! I hope to make it a tradition to go every Christmas.

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow

Moli doesn't quite get why it so cold!

Alex "coloring" in the snow

What a wonderful surprise to have snow before Christmas! The snow was a perfect end to a great day of baking with my Mom yesterday.

Oh baby!

We are expecting a stork delivery soon! I'm pregnant! David and I are thrilled! I am currently 14 weeks pregnant, which is 3 months and couple weeks. We will be expecting baby girl or baby boy Anderson around June 6th. Just shy of our 3rd anniversary. We can't wait to find out whether we should start shopping for blue or pink baby things. We surprised our families with the news around Halloween. I'm now in my second trimester and starting to feel better. However, I still dread the incubators early in the morning at work! That seems to be my trigger. I haven't had any crazy cravings...just salty foods. I usually go for the chocolate, but lately just pass the salt!

Turkey for Two - times 2

We started Thanksgiving this year the weekend before the actual day. We traveled to Atlanta and enjoyed David's parents cooking. David and his Dad deep fried a turkey, which I had only seen them doing in pictures, which was great. We enjoyed catching up with everyone and playing with our favorite niece- that is until March, when we will have two favorite nieces! We left Atlanta to rush home and spot clean before we had a showing of our townhouse.

We celebrated Thanksgiving again with my mom in White Bluff. Mom cooked a delicious dinner and an even better (much requested) chess pie. My dad actually joined us for dinner, before he rushed off for this second Thanksgiving dinner with my grandad. We watched the Macy's Parade followed by another Titan Victory. I was trying to sneak in little bits of the dog show during commercials! Alex stayed with my mom when we were in Atlanta, so I was thrilled to bring him back home and see him. Well, I was glad until Alex got "sick" right as we picked up our forks to eat! Perfect timing Alex!

In between all the Thanksgivings, David and I found time to celebrate my 27th birthday at the Palm. I think the Palm is becoming one of my favorite places to eat! Yum! Anyhow, David gave me a Wii for my birthday. It is a blast. We are loving having friends over to play.

falling into fall

Since I was in college at Lipscomb University, I have started falling in love with Fall. I used to think of myself as a summer girl, but lately I can't get enough of the fall. This week we had our first fall-like day and Alex and I took advantage of it. We explored Crockett Park and tried not get lost. I'm not from Brentwood, so I'm learning my way around the parks. We love to run the trails at Edwin Warner Parks which remind me of my home park-Montgomery Bell. I used to take Alex to Montogomery Bell when he was a puppy. That is where he learned to swim by chasing ducks. I bought my first mum of the fall and can't wait for the pumpkins. Our fingers are crossed as we entered Alex and Moli into a photo contest at Vanderbilt. Every year, The House Organ Magazine February edition is dedicated to the Pets of the Medical Center. I have been at Vandy for 2 years now, and always wish I had entered them. Basically, it is pages and pages of employees' dogs and cats. There are thousands of employees so who knows if they will get picked.

bringing the ocean in....

While we were in Sandestin, David decided it was time to start a saltwater aquarium. He couldn't wait to get home and buy a "nano cube" aquarium. Which I must admit, is a cute aquarium as it is a cube with rounded corners. I started to get nervous as he filled up the aquarium with spring water from Kroger's. I am terrified of having more water damage....what if the aquarium sprung a leak?? David reminded me if it occurred it would a minimum amount of water. I am new to this and had no idea you had to get the pH, sodium, calcium, and nitrates just perfect before you can add corals, anemones, or fish!!! If anything, this fish tank is teaching me patience! David has loved going to fish stores and picking out what he wants to buy. I had a minor (okay major) freak out when I wandering into a section looking at rocks and realized 3 feet in front of me were countless Rubbermaid containers that read "boa constrictors." Oh, needless to say I left and went to Sally Beauty Supply and waited for David to finish shopping. Anyhow, we now have 2 "live rocks" and 2 domino damsel fish that are starter fish. They are named Polka and Dot as they have, you guessed it, dots! We will have these 2 fish for 6 weeks until the water will be ready for more unique things like a chocolate chip starfish and clownfish. The aquarium has two types of lighting: lights that mimic both the sun and the moon. David amazes me at how much he knows about sea life. Sometimes I think he missed his calling as a marine biologist. But hey, who says you need a degree to do what you love? We will post more pictures as our aquarium grows.

Sandestin

We made our annual trip to Sandestin this year. We slipped down there between tropical storm Fay and Hurricane Gustav. Just one rainy day and the sun came out! Of course, we took Alex & Moli with us! They were great in the car ride down. My mom and Mike met us down there. We spent our days on the beach and our nights either sitting on the porch swing or visiting the local restaurants. Our favorite is the Red Bar. We heard from a waiter that Paula Dean loves their bread pudding. I've never seen so many dolphin on beach before. I believe they were chasing the fish the storms brought in. Jellyfish were everywhere this year, but that didn't keep us out of the water. The flag was purple all week meaning, dangerous sea creatures. Luckily, no one got stung badly. David thought it was fun to catch them. I was thankful the dangerous sea creatures didn't include sharks. We returned home to wrap up the summer with a day on the lake with friends and UT Football.

Mom and Mike

Alex swimming The pool and Crystal Lake

Alex and Moli snuggling in the car

our furry babies...alex & moli

our summer so far

We have spent the majority of our summer working our townhome after we had water damage. However, we were able to squeeze in one trip to Rosemary Beach. We had a great time and loved the area. We found the most amazing key lime pie there! I can't wait to go back. We've also taken in a few Braves games. We are planning our annual trip to Sandestin where we got married. This year will be my 12th summer vacationing there. David's brother and sister-in-law moved to Nashville this summer and we are thrilled to have our niece close by!