Anderson Family Update!

Wow! It has been awhile since I've blogged! Yikes! Is anyone out there still reading these? We may have been taken off your radar, but we're still here!

First, about our newest member of the family, Joshua is almost 6 months old! He is rolling around, sitting up, and very strong! He weighed 21 pounds a few weeks ago. I have no idea how much he's gained since then. He's already in 9-12 month clothes, and goes through them like porpoise goes through water! Fast! Lots of drooling, spitting up, and diaper disasters help with that, of course!

Joshua now LOVES to get help standing. He wants to play sitting up most of the time, and is in love with his "Johnny Jump-Up". He is also quite curious, likes to "talk" long babbling sentences, and loves it when people call him cute and give him kisses. Did I mention he is a flirt? Oh yes... with anyone who will look at him. He spends his days playing, sleeping, and going for walks with the fam.

Anyway, that is our little man's story. Now for the fam. We lived in Decorah, IA this summer. Luke led a summer project there for the Rock. We had seven people from Ames participating in it. We were joined by a few stellar families who lived in the area and who are sold out for Christ!

Together, we served the community by running a youth soccer program for grades K-8. We had 60 kids involved, and they had a great time as they learned soccer skills and heard the Gospel. We also helped put on "Church In The Park", two Bible studies, and a Friday Night BBQ. We had speakers from all over come and speak to the group. It was wonderful! We saw 3 people come to faith in Christ this summer. I was fortunate enough to help share the Gospel with one of the ladies! Praise the Lord! Everyone grew a lot this summer, especially our family! Luke and I are super excited to get back in the Dorms here in Ames.

Did I mention we are now back in Ames? Yup. It's true! We were sad to leave our new friends/family in Decorah, but they are in good hands. We are currently settling back in, unpacking, and purging our house of things we don't need. The chaos of the school year starts in a week and a half. We are in the lul before the storm. We're taking the opportunity to catch up on the happenings of Ames, with people here we haven't seen in awhile, and with family.

Well, friends, that is all for now! Thanks for reading!

Welcome Joshua!

Welcome Joshua Michael Anderson, the newest member of the Anderson Clan!

This is a little late as far as posts go, but I've been "adjusting" to life with our little bundle of joy, and only now have time to blog!

Joshua was born February 14th, 2009 at 5:35 AM! He was 7 pounds 5.9 onces, 20 inches long, and 14.5 centimeter head. Joshua was the best Valentine's gift we've ever gotten... God is so amazing, isn't He?

About The Name: Luke and I had his name picked out since we were engaged. Joshua is one of our favorite Biblical characters. Michael is Luke's father's first name, and is Joshua's middle name in honor of him. This is a tradition in Luke's family. If we ever have another boy, he'll have my father's first name as a middle name.

Oh, and as for those who "placed their bets" about Joshua's weight, Sarah Windham and Vineet were the closest without going over, both guessing 7.5 ounces... so you two win! Your Prize: Virtual High Five! Congrats!

The story? Well, it was like a marathon! Labor lasted 26 hours. They tried to induce me 11 hours before that (unsuccessfully mind you), so we were stuck in the hospital for 37 hours total before he came out, but only 26 of them were real labor with strong contractions. This means we didn't get much sleep or food during this timeframe. Only by Christ's strength and grace were we sustained during this time!

Our midwife was amazing, and Joshua only took 35 minutes to push out. The great news is that I didn't need a C-Section, nor an epidural! I didn't even tear! Praise God! I was given a pain killer after 6 hours straight of hard contractions that were about 0-4 seconds apart and 100-120 seconds long (these were documented on the machine the hooked me up to... I thought they were joking!) I couldn't stay on top of them, so they gave me something that acted like "Beyer for a Migraine" (just took the edge off and spaced the contractions out a bit more). That really helped and made the remaining 6-8 hours of labor bearable (I don't remember the exact timeframe.)

Anyway, I survived and am feeling fine! Joshua is doing so well! He's grown so much and has nice pudgy baby cheeks! Oh so cute! Thanks to everyone who prayed for us, gave us baby things, and who have provided us with meals! We couldn't have survived the last week without you!