Blast from the Past

I was recently thinking of how far a child comes in their development in only one year. Shelby continues to blow my mind! His vocabularly is rather extensive. Just this morning his sentence was, "Daddy, cat run away." He was talking about the cat he saw out the window.
So I decided to add some Shelby stats I'll try to keep up to date (see right side of blog). I'll try to keep you updated on what he's into so you get a glimpse into Shelby's days and desires.

Let me tell you about my little man. He's all about equality. If someone has something, Shelby demands that everyone has the exact same. Example: Shelby observes Daddy has a drink at the table, but Mommy didn't get herself one yet. "Daddy! Mommy drink!"
He's also a morning person! This has its pro's and con's. His bedtime is around 8:30pm. His waking time....5:30-6:30am. This is great during the week, as I don't have to drag a groggy baby half asleep and cranky to school. However, it seems so injust on the weekends when 6am rolls around. Brutal. But he's in a great mood in the mornings, which always starts my day off right.
He's very aggressive lately, setting dominance, especially amongst his friends. I'm quite concerned about this one.
Stacy uses the term "Momma's Boy" to describe the Shelbster. I hope that's a good thing. I'll take all I can get to be the lady of his life before it's too late.
Mr. Independence! Whatever we as adults do, Shelby thinks he can do too. I don't care what it is...he's gonna attempt it. I've been trying to get Ms. Stacy to start potty training. He tells me when he's going potty, usually to ensure I know he'd like some privacy and he'll be in the corner if I need him. But the other day he said, "Mommy, Shelby go potty." After a little while of silence I started checking his usual spots. I found him on the toilet with the lid lifted up, sitting on the edge of the pot, clothes on, going poo in his diaper!
And finally, Mr. Observation. I was just talking to Ms. Lori at school and we were dicussing how observant he is. He got in trouble because he figured out how to unlatch the gate at school and go to rooms he's not supposed to be in. He also comes home and not only tells me what they did at school that day, but is very observant of the feelings and emotions involved in the actions, and finds words and expressions to recreate the scene for me. He loves I Spy books, even those that seem too old for him, in which he sometimes finds the item before I even see it!

Here's Shelby last February:

Anderson time in Olney

On Thursday, January 29th, Nonna and Granddad picked us up from Tehya's. Special thanks to Tehya for sharing! And thanks to the Anderson/Trufan fam for a ton of fun.

Evidence to follow...

My Beautiful Family

Thursday night, Nonny hosted us at her house for a fabulous dinner! My favorite...cavadels (sp?)

After dinner the kids ganged up on Granddad. What you don't see after this video is Daxton turn around innocently and ask, "Wha happun?"


A cool part about the trip home was watching Shelby interact in the place of my childhood memories. This poor, poor seahorse has seen its better days. It used to be one of my favorites.

He even developed his own little KoolAid stand.

I got the kids to slow down for a shoot with Nonna.This one cracked me up! Shelby looks like he's about to attack Saige for kissing HIS Nonna!

This pic sums up Daxton's time with the kids. Saige & Shelby running off to get in trouble, and poor Dax always two seconds too late. Uncle D's home!Granddad's turn!

Cutest Cousins...

Okay, Nonna, you can join us.Sharla bought the kids these adorable matching/coordinating shirts.Look closely on the ground between the two. Foreshadowing? An empty beer can and upon my arrival they scram in opposite directios...nice...

Whoa....

Me & my lil bro
Saige loves her Uncle Stacy

Always horses at the Anderson Franch House (yes, that's a farm AND a ranch house)

Okay, so Saige was the cutest. She found her mom's tripod and decided to have a photo session of her own. Somehow she conned Shelby into modeling.

Okay, Shelby, work it...show me some attitude... What do you mean, I'm not listening. I'm a professional. I model for CAJ Photography often, and therefore have a rather extensive portfolio of experience. You're the amateur!

I can't work like this! I'm calling my agent.

After learning that those Cali models are high maintenance, Saige moved on to a more peaceful person...her beautiful mommy!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHELBY!



So my son looks nothing like me, but he did get my desire to host a good party. He found a silver platter and immediately started serving everyone his "delicious" treats.

Time to play with Shelby's presents!

Thanks for a great trip, everyone!!!!

The Serene Life

Tesa often has to answer the question of what on earth would possess her to live out in the middle of nowhere. We all tease her that she's in the sticks.
Let's review the facts of my investigation, shall we?
1. The closest thing to a traffic jam is when the flock of turkeys (do turkeys come in flocks?) cross paths of the beautiful horses.
2. Shelby runs freely around like he's in heaven, no fear of cars or strangers. It's every grandkids dreamland.
3. The only time she has to argue with anyone is when the horses or dogs won't listen to her commands.
4. The kind of beauty that people pay good money for on vacation is there every morning, while she sits on her front porch with her cup of coffee.
5. After a hard day's labor, she can look out her wall 'o windows and watch the sun set over the water, casting colors of orange, pink, peach...
So I'd say after putting in her dues in the hustle and bustle of a city, she more than deserves the serene life and the simple joys of mother nature.
Way to live the dream, Tesa!

See the peaceful conentment in this precious face as we watched the sunset!

I was curious, so I got down on the Shelbster's level to see what such a creature would look like. Okay, so it was a little overwhelming!
Let's move it along, Ladies, nothing to see here....

Thanks for an amazing trip, Tehya and Papa John!

Miles Mohler

Ryan, Bethany and Kelly all came to visit and brought Baby Miles! It was so great to meet him. Miles is the son of Ryan and Bethany. Ryan is the son of the late Uncle Stacy. (Gee, name sound familiar these days?)
Miles is only 9 mo old, but a health baby, weighing the same as Shelby and wearing the same size diapers. Look at this precious little chunk ball! Poor baby is the victim of more cheek squeezing that should be tolerable, I'm sure.Wow, it's hard enough to believe we're parents, better yet Ryan! When I first met Stacy, Ryan was just a wee little lad. Now look at him all grown up and being a great dad.Cousins! Generation 1 and 2.Shelby loved Baby Miles. Kelly is an adorable Uncle and was too cute with these boys.Playing the kissing chase game.