Hailey is almost three and I can't believe it. She starts pre-school in Sept. and I think she is going to love it. She is such a performer and loves dancing, especially ballet right now. She actually dances on her tip-toes and when they bend it does not phase her. I think she owns four Barbie ballet type movies and she watches them over and over. She loves princesses!!! Did I say love. She thinks they are beautiful and have the prettiest dresses and shoes. She has the highest self esteem and always tells us that she is a pretty princess and I make sure to emphasize it to her. She loves music and believe it or not knows three of Beyonce's songs by heart...cracks us up. She is super independent and although I love it sometimes it breaks my heart to know she knows so much more than I even knew she knew. I hate that she is getting so big but love her zest for life and her adventurous personality. She tells us the funniest things, the greatest stories that I don't know where they came from and knows so much that she amazes me. She often comes into my bed early in the morning and asks to hold my hand or she gives me a kiss. I can't believe how lucky I am to have her in my life. I always tell her that Heavenly Father created her especially for me and that it took a while to get her but it was well worth the wait. She is such a special spirit and I am so grateful she is mine. I look forward to many more memories and great laughs with her.

My sweet Layla....words cannot describe her sweetness. She is super dependent and so needy that sometimes I love that she depends on us so much for everything. I always imagine what she will be like when she is much older and even married. I hope she will always want my help with things. I call her my problem solver. She loves problem solving with toys and loves the work it takes to complete a task. She gets it too...at least with the toys. She loves to discover but gets easily frustrated with a challenge. She loves baby dolls and anything girly. Cell phones, laptops and key remotes fascinate her and she needs to push buttons. She loves to cuddle and loves affection. She loves to kiss you randomly and will welcome kisses and hugs anytime. She loves attention and loves for people to talk, touch and take care of her. She is an amazing eater and will eat anything...seriously anything! She isn't walking yet but is starting to push herself up to stand. She is a super crawler and has gotten pretty fast at it. She loves, loves, loves her sister...she literally lights up and is a happy girl with Hailey around. She is such a sweet girl and I love how much I learn from her. She teaches me patience and to take a break in life. I feel truly blessed to be her mom and to have her as my daughter. I am grateful to have a lifetime with her and will do anything for her!

I don't yet know this sweet boy personally but I do know that he is special and strong willed boy. He was determined to come down and time did not stop him. I have loved carrying him for nine months but boy has he been rough on my body. I was so scared to have a boy but up until two weeks or so I am ready for the different challenge and look forward to having a boy around. I think about him going on a mission and getting married...I know; I have a LONG time before that happens. I am not a bug, dirt, or rough housing lover but I know I will learn something from him in that regard. They say there is no love like a son and mother but I hope he knows that there is no love like a mother's for her child and I already adore him and anticipate his arrival. In a week (or more to my luck) he will be here and we are excited to start the journey together and teach him how to be a strong stripling warrior.

Layla turns 1

I can still remember when my sweet girl was born. This year has surely flown by and she has gotten so big so quick. For her 1st birthday party I wanted it to be simple and sweet just like her. She is such a loving person and loves to cuddle, kiss and share everything. She loves attention and is very dependent and I love her super sweet nature. She has been such a blessing in our life and we are grateful to have her be a part of our family! I hope she always knows how special she is to us and how much we adore her. I cannot imagine my life without her and she is such a precious gift to us. Happy 1st Birthday sweet girl!!

Welcome to the Anderson candy shoppe. We had glass jars filled with candy as decoration and party favors...it was a huge hit with the kids and they loved filling their little bags.

I love this picture....

Layla LOVES baby dolls...

She enjoyed all her presents and the wrapping paper as well.

Strawberry Jam

Since we couldn't share our jam with everyone thought I would post some pictures of our hard work. Really...freezer jam is the easiest thing to make. This little cutie wasted no time! She asked for an apron and a spoon and starting "helping" immediately. It was really fun and I love that Hailey had such a good time making the jam with me. Give the gift of jam to your friends and fam!

The strawberries were not only delicious but .99 cents - perfect time for jam!

Hailey "had" to wear her Fancy Nancy shoes...

4 cups of sugar to 2 cups of strawberries...I didn't say it was healthy!

Cute labels make it all look pretty and ready for friends!

Happy Father's Day

We had a wonderful Father's Day. Jason had breakfast in bed compliments of Hailey and Layla and was also given his gifts. Hailey loves presents...any kind. So she was really cute when she gave him what we got him. She picked a movie for him and Layla got him 3 skinny ties. I am so grateful to be married to an amazing man who honors his role as a father. He is amazing with the girls and they adore him. I love how they light up and get excited the minute they hear the garage door open at the end of the day...that means one thing-daddy is home!!! I feel truly blessed that my girls have a fabulous daddy and a great example of a great man.

Ballerina just like June

My sweet girl Hailes started a ballet/tap class about 3 months ago. Ask me then if she would have done such a great job and I would have told you NO! Then one day, she started listening to the teacher, actually dancing and loving her dance class. I think what finally convinced her was her at the moment role-model June from the "Little Einsteins." She loves how June always has a skirt/tutu on and twirls and dances. She always tells me she wants to be a ballerina like June. So this Friday all her hardwork paid off and they had a little recital called "That's Entertainment." Since the group consisted of 2 year olds the attention span can only last for so long so they did two dance routines. Hailey could not wait to get on stage and perform...she is definitely a performer. She did such a great job and we are so proud of her!

Take me out to the ball game...

Saturday night we enjoyed ourselves at a Dodgers baseball game. I am not a fan of baseball by any means but it was great hanging out with our family. The kids seemed to have a great time and it was pretty fun for me too. I didn't pay attention to the game at all and can't tell you if the Dodgers even won but we had tons of fun! I can't believe how expensive the food has gotten at the stadium....our brother in law bought a little pizza for $9-yikes! I also realized how out of shape I am, I felt like I was going to go into labor climbing all the stairs. And I really think they need to cut back on the number of innings, 9 is way too much-too long. I asked my brother in law if there was a halftime...he just laughed at me. I guess baseball and basketball are completely different. All set aside, we enjoyed ourselves and would love to do it again.

Although we were pretty far up the view of the field was beautiful

These two little cousins love each other and are so good together!!

Such a good looking family...

The Anderson Guys

Six years and counting...

On Feb. 15th, Jason and I celebrated six years of being married. Its been wonderful and time sure has flown by. We knew we weren't going to do anything spectacular (like my trip to Hawaii that I wanted) so we thought we would buy each other what the other wanted. This was our list:

A gym membership for Jason............................$35/m ($cha-ching$)

A nice watch Jason wanted................................$500 ($cha-ching$$)

A hot pair of shoes for Liz..................................$100 ($cha-ching$)

Prada sunglasses for Liz....................................$240 ($cha-ching$$)

Night on the town with wife..............................PRICELESS (!!!!!)

hmmmmm.....I wonder which one either of us will get (?!)

Night out on the town it was! Since we couldn't go to Hawaii I thought we would enjoy a great dinner at an amazing restaurant called "Roy's." Goodness was it delicious and worth it! If you ever want Hawaiian cuisine...go to Roy's, its pricey but well worth it! I decided to surprise Jason and I got the babysitter (usually he does). I cut out 50 hearts and wrote a reason on each one with reasons why I love him. Then I put them all over the inside of his car so he could randomly find them. Since he didn't know where we were going I drove to the restaurant and he was looking for the hearts while I drove-so distracting. We had a great evening and the restaurant made it even more amazing. They specialized everything for our anniversary down to the menu. Jason is truly my love and I am blessed because of him!

Happy Anniversary babe-I love you!!!

Mahalo everyone!

It's a......

This little bump and soon to be BIG bump that has been coming out of my body is a BOY! Jason is super excited for his sport/golf partner. I don't know what to do with a boy!? I keep thinking of a mission, marrying a girl that hopefully I will get along with and crazy boy behavior. Although I am excited for the adventures I am a little nervous. I am excited though for the bond and relationship that every mother who has a boy says you form with them. I am excited for the super cute boy clothes too....(girls aren't the only ones!) I look forward to the simpler stuff like cars, trucks, trains and shirts and shorts. I love the family that is growing within our home and feel so happy that again I am entrusted with another little spirit.

Happy Valentine's Day

Have a day full of LOVE!

Don't you hate it when....

people seem to fall of the face of the earth, and stop writing in their blogs! I had a really good streak going, but now I have some making up to do.

My life has been busy and exciting. Many of you know this by now, but for those of you who don't know...I am pregnant! We are excited and thrilled to add on to our little family. But as you can guess, my first trimester involved some morning sickness, A LOT of exhaustion and a LACK OF DESIRE to do anything. I am starting to feel better and little by little I am getting my productivity back. I am now 13 weeks along....how many do I have left??? This is the one pregnancy where I am ok waiting for the 40 weeks....(I say that now). I will be honest with you by telling you that I am nervous. My due date was August 7th but now it's been bumped up to July 29th...that will make Layla and this baby a little less than 13 months apart. I am freaking out a little or a lot. Jason keeps reassuring me it will all be okay but there are people that can handle a lot and people that can't, I am one of those that handles the bare minimum. Although lately I feel like Heavenly Father is testing that part of me by giving me more than I think I can handle, obviously I am doing ok and handling it. So weakness is becoming a strength! I am loving being a mom to my two girls and am grateful for my wonderful hubby. One of the saddest things I have encountered recently is being released from YW's. For those of you haven't served in the YW program, when you do and when you get released it will be very hard. I was emotional for a week, I blamed it on pregnancy but in reality it was a little devastating. I love the YW and they will always hold a special place in my heart!

My sweet Layla! This little miracle of mine was sent here for many reasons, mainly to test my patience. She is a great girl but only when you hold her. She has to be held ALL the time. And if she is content on the bed, in the swing or car seat-the second she sees or hears me she cries and screams! She is unlike her sister and is very dependent! But she is super sweet and loving. She LOVES Hailey and to her that is the joy in her life. She loves apples and sweet potato baby food. She loves baths and can splash like crazy. She is crazy for our dog and lights up when he comes around her. And she loves to pucker up her lips and have those cheeks of hers puff up-I like to call her puffer fish. I adore her to pieces!!

My miracle number two is life of the party! She is talking NON-stop and always makes me laugh. She learns and picks things up so quickly, half of the time she leaves me speechless. I love her head of curls and those super sweet dimples. She is completely INDEPENDENT!! She loves picking out her own clothes, she is a dancing maching and is mommy's 'helper.' The one thing that I can't break is her "flip-flop obsession." She WILL NOT wear any other shoe except that. On Sunday's its a battle to put on her shoes. Today it was raining and cold and she wore her flip flops. I have learned to pick my battles with her. I love it at night because after baths, Layla goes to sleep and Jason goes on the computer, but Hailey and I lay in bed and watch TV. We bond and I love getting to know her and spending my time with her. She is such a fun-loving, enthusiastic blessing in my life!

Well, these are the two things I fear and this is the one thing Jason wants to do. He wants to scuba dive! I am super scared of ocean water and sharks!! I hyperventilate just thinking about it, it literally scares me. And of all things that Jason could do he wants to do this. I asked him to try to find another hobby, but it comes back to this. What do I do? In the meantime, he is super busy with work and loving it. He still enjoys playing golf and teaches 16 13-year old kids in Sunday school...yikes! He is a fabulous father....I mean that whole heartedly. He is so great with his girls and he loves them. They light up when they see him and he does the same with them. I love seeing their love for each other! He continues to bless my life with his love and I am truly lucky.