Monday, May 29, 2006

Another Crazy Weekend

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)
Jacob had quite a busy weekend. He got to meet most of the Anderson side of the family along with some family friends. He was so excited to meet everyone that he forgot to stay on his built-in sleeping schedule, and boy did we pay for it later. When everyone had headed home and it was time for Michele and I to head back to Livonia, he was very over-tired. He tried to sleep a bit (eventually) on the car ride home, but it took a long holding session once we got home to finally calm him down. He ended up sleeping very well through the night, so that was good.

Before meeting all the new people, Jake spent a little time on Grandma and Grandpa's new pontoon boat. Great-Grandma R joined us for a little lunch in the slip. The boat looks really nice. Since we don't have an infant life preserver yet, Jake had to be content docked, but hopefully he'll get out on Lake Fenton sooner than later.

Meme and Papa have finished the remodeling of their kitchen as well. It looks great! I especially like the granite counter tops. I've seen the big slabs at Home Depot, but I never would have guessed that I'd like it, but it looks REALLY good. Papa, as usual, did a great job, and I'm sure he was grateful for all the help he got from Meme and Alison. You can see pictures of their new kitchen here.

Also, it looks like Grandma and Grandpa figured out the new dotPhoto interface, and you can see (at least some) of their vacation photos here.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

2+2 (months+days)

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)
So, Jake turned 2 months old on Sunday. I realize it's Tuesday now, but it took a little longer to get the photos processed this time... and by processed, of course, I mean taking the card out of the camera, sticking it in the computer, and getting around to uploading, commenting, and blogging!

As a treat for his two month birthday, Jacob got to go to Church for the first time. It was really just sleeping somewhere different for him, but it was nice for Michele and I to finally get to go to Church together again. Aside from his trip to Church, Jacob also got to visit Babies 'R Us, Costco, and Target. He doesn't seem to have picked a favorite yet.

When he wasn't busy traveling, Jake continued his steady stream of visitors. He got to meet Marie (another Salem teacher) and Brian and Di.

On Saturday, Jacob also welcomed Grandma and Grandpa T home from South Carolina. Keep an eye peeled for a link to the photos from their vacation.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

2 Month Shots

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)
Jacob went into the pediatrician today for his 2 month checkup. Everything seems to be going well. He's up to 20 inches in length, and he weighs in at 7 pounds 15 ounces. By this time tomorrow he'll probably tip the scales at 8 pounds.

Besides the general poking and prodding, he also received 3 shots which, in total, contained 5 immunizations. I had to hold his arms while a nurse held his legs and another administered the shots. One to his left thigh and then the other two to his right. Michele sat in the corner and cried silently. Jacob screamed while the medicine was going in, but he was done crying before they finished putting a band-aid on his second leg. He then proceeded to have a good night, although it was slightly fussier than normal. As you can see from the main photo, he's not doing too bad! We let him soak in the "tub" for a few minutes to soften the band-aids, and just to sooth his legs. He really seemed to like it.

Jake got to meet a few more people over the weekend. On Saturday he met Jessi and Melissa. In a few months he'll get to meet their kids! As you can PLAINLY tell in the photo, they are both in their second trimester.

Then, on Mother's Day, Jake had even more visitors as Michele's Birthday week continued. Meme and Papa came down with Great Grandma Stewart (Miah), Uncle John, Uncle Mark, Aunt Melissa, and Alison. Alison also got to hold Jacob for the first time. We were supposed to wait until after his shots, but she had waited so patiently up till this point.

Jake's got a few more visitors lined up for this week and into the weekend. Then, on Saturday, Grandma and Grandpa T get back from South Carolina, so he'll be anxious to see them home safely.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Happy Birthday Michele

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)
Today Michele got one step closer to the big 3-0! She celebrated her birthday with her parents and sister's family last weekend, celebrated with our neighbors tonight, and will celebrate with the Anderson clan this coming weekend. Nothing like turning your birthday into one big long week of partying! Add to that the fact that she now gets to celebrate Mother's Day as well, and she's almost getting more attention than Jacob... almost. While Michele was opening and reading her cards, we found out a little tidbit of information about Jo as she proclaimed, "I just open the card and if there's no money just set it aside." So, if you are thinking about writing anything great in a card to Johanna, make sure there's some cash in there to help keep her attention!

Also, earlier this week our friend Kari stopped by with her daughter Lauren. Lauren was born, full-term, about a month before Jacob. You can see them side by side if you follow the link to the album. Michele and Jake have been offered a slot in the play group including Kari, Lynette, the Dana's and all the little ones, of which Lauren and Jacob will be the youngest.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Happy Sunday

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Another week has gone by and Jake just continues to get bigger. As of Wednesday, May 3, Jake was just over 7 pounds. For those keeping score at home, he was supposed to be born just a few days after that, so he's not doing too bad for a kid who has had to work a lot harder in the real world than he would have in his mom's stomach.

Jacob got to meet a few more people this week: Tiffany and Francesco (friends from Philly), Mrs. Pruss (Jason's mom), Patty and Julianna (Teacher and daughter) and Anna (another teacher).

For anyone that hasn't had a chance to meet Jacob yet, please feel free to give us a call. We're taking appointments now! While we are busy getting used to our new life, we aren't too busy for friends and family (any more), so please don't feel like you're imposing. We still have at least a few more weeks before we're officially allowed to take Jake anywhere, so we're pretty much always here.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Weekend Update (a bit late)

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Jacob had quite a weekend. Not only did he get to meet new people, but he got to try at least one new thing (that we know of).

Mike and Melissa Noll were in town from Ohio, so they were able to come over for a while on Saturday. We watched the NFL Draft, grilled out, and spent a lot of time holding Jake.

After the Red Wings lost game 5 I needed to blow off some steam, so we took Jake for his first walk! He really seemed to enjoy the stroller. He was wide awake before the walk, and seemed to fall asleep as soon as he was in motion. When we stopped for a picture - eyes open; start moving again - eyes closed. I guess we have a new trick for a fussy baby once the weather settles down and stays nice!

On Sunday, Jacob got to meet Jen as she made a solo trip over to Livonia.

On Monday, our friend Andy, in from Chicago, managed to swing by and spend some time with Michele and Jacob.

This afternoon Jacob got to see a different kind of doctor. Jake had his eyes checked out by an opthamologist. Apparently premature babies can have issues with their retinas. Jake's looked fine, but as expected, his eye muscles aren't too strong yet. He has to go back again in six months to make sure they've gotten stronger.

Hopefully you've subscribed to our feed either through RSS or email (check out the "Helpful Hints" for more info). The RSS feed will tell you almost instantly when the site's been updated, email will tell you the following day. As our son seems to be demanding more attention as his sleeping hours dwindle, we'll have less time to update this blog, but we're going to shoot for at LEAST once a week.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Extra! Extra! Subscriptions Available!

Do you wish there was an easier way to find out when we've updated The Anderson Annex? Well, now there are multiple ways.

On the right side of the page, there should be a toolbox. In there you'll find some "help" items, some links to other blogs/sites, an archive of old posts, and Email and RSS subscription methods.

If you have heard of RSS and now how to use it, please read on, otherwise skip to the email subscription section. You can either click the My Yahoo banner or copy the link from the RSS banner and apply it to your RSS Reader.

For an e-mail subscription, enter your e-mail address and click on the subscribe button. This will open a new window (make sure you aren't blocking popups) for FeedBurner email Subscription. To help prevent spam, you will have to type the text that they display and click Complete Subscription Request. Then, you will receive an email from donotreply@emailenfuego.net. This went to my inbox in both yahoo and gmail, but it's possible that it might end up in your junk/spam mail folder. When you open this email, there will be a link that you need to click to activate the subscription. After successfully completing that, you should receive an email any time we update the blog.

If none of this makes sense, please just post a comment with your e-mail address, and I'll try to help out further.