HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Audriana trying out her new costume in the toy room!
Side view of our salmon sashimi
Can you tell she's loving her costume?

This year for Halloween, we decided to dress up as a family in a food theme--Sushi! Audriana was our Salmon Sashimi. I was a bottle of Kikkoman Soy Sauce and Bjorn was a bottle of Kikkoman Low Sodium Soy Sauce. We were a big hit at several Halloween parties and people loved our creativity. Though, I wish I could claim full credit in the creativity department, I cannot. The idea of Audriana as a Salmon Sashimi came from a magazine. The idea of Bjorn and I dressing up as Kikkoman soy sauce bottles was entirely Bjorn's. We were originally go to dress up as chopsticks, but the thought of me in a tan spandex suit had some drawbacks...so the soy sauce bottle it was! Bjorn and I had a great time making our costumes--who knew he was so meticulous about cutting out his felt letters! Happy Halloween, everyone!

Happy 90th Birthday Great Grandma Evelyn!

Hooray! Audriana's great-grandma Evelyn (GG Evelyn for short!) turns 90 today! To mark this wonderful milestone, Grandma and Grandpa Anderson pulled together a weekend of family festivities to celebrate. It started with all the Anderson "boys" flying home: Bjorn from the East and Erik from the West. From the reports, they had a lovely dinner on Saturday and a great open-house on Sunday for GG Evelyn. Even though Audriana and I couldn't make it to MN, we are definitely thinking about you on your special day, Grandma...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Our love and kisses are floating from Jacksonville to MN for you!

Photos of Grandma and Grandpa's visit

At Mickler Beach
Look out for the flying baby!
Grandma and Baby at home.
Tired after a day of shopping with Grandma!
Grandma and Grandpa at home with baby!

Contentment

Last week, we had Grandma and Grandpa Te come visit us and our new home. We LOVED having them visit. And just to make sure their visit was as exciting as Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's visit, the Maxima broke down the day they arrived. We were rescued by Bjorn and a handy tow truck. I was very grateful that Grandma and Grandpa were with us and that Bjorn was just a phone call away to play the role of knight in shining armor (though, the shining armor was by way of a Toyota Previa...aka "covered truck" as Bjorn fondly calls it).

Audriana really enjoyed her visit with her grandparents and they absolutely fell in love with her all over again. Like Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's visit, a visit by her adoring grandparents always yields some pretty presents. Grandma and Grandpa Te took Audriana on a shopping spree for some fall/winter clothes. And at the shopping mall, believe or not, we saw baby gators in the pond between the shops and freeway! They were tiny, about 5 inches long from nose tip to tail. I had to hussle Grandpa into the car as soon as I saw them because if there are baby gators, there's bound to be a mama gator around...and I had no interest in meeting her! We took Grandma and Grandpa to the beach, showed them around Jacksonville, Avondale, San Marco, St. Augustine, and of course our neighborhood. They loved it all! Grandma and Grandpa even baby sat for us so that Bjorn could take me out to celebrate my birthday. It was so lovely. We had to remind Grandma and Grandpa that even though they came to Florida to visit their granddaughter, not to forget to tell people that they saw us, their children, too! I will be posting pictures of their trip soon. Stay tuned....Grandma and Grandpa took over 125 pictures in a span of 4 days and that DOES NOT include video footage. Talk about love and adoration!

On another note, at church this Sunday, the Pastor's sermon was about contentment. I really enjoyed it and really made me think about the things in life that made me CONTENT and not just happy. I do believe that happiness or unhappiness is a state of temporary being whereas contentment is about the state of overall being. As we arrived into church on Sunday, we were given a little key tag. I wanted to post the message on the key tag on this blog to share with you the meaning of contentment in our lives. I hope, as you read it, there rings a truth of recognition in your heart and mind.

CONTENTMENT: "Lord, help me to be grateful for what I have, to remember that I don't need most of what I want, and that joy is found in simplicity and generosity."

-Enough by Adam Hamilton.

Morning Smoochy Baby!

So lately, Audriana has been sporting some really funny expressions. The pursed lips is a common favorite around our household. I finally caught it on camera when she found out that we ran out of her favorite yogurt....she only got half a container after breakfast this morning. The expression was after I showed her the empty container. Seeing her expression like that just makes me want to give her a big smoochy!

Red Velvet Cake

Like my last pregnancy, I could not stop baking/cooking/grilling to save my life. I don't really "nest" like normal pregnant women do, but boy, do I cook up a storm. I remember when Bjorn returned from his deployment last year right before Audriana was born and fully expecting me to nest. He would casually drop an article of clothing (that was hanging in the closet) on the floor and ask me if I felt like nesting yet. My answer was always a resounding no. And he'd have to pick up the clothes. Hahaha.

At anyrate, Bjorn, to his delight, has really been benefiting from this frenzy in the kitchen. My latest creation has been a 4-layer red velvet cake. I don't know why I like it so much other than the fact that I saw it on Steel Magnolias and instantly loved it (both the movie and the cake). I have to admit that for a person who somehow comes dyslexic when reading baking recipes, the red velvet did not fair out too bad. The frosting was amazing...cream cheese and mascarpone. You must try it...it is SINFULLY DIVINE!!! Enjoy the pictures of my handiwork. And if y'all can keep a secret: Audriana loves the frosting as much as her momma....when Daddy isn't looking she takes a swipe of the frosting, too!

New Audriana Pictures

Here are some new pictures of Audriana. She is growing up sooo quickly. Her playroom is an empty room (to be her little brother's room) with all of her toys and a baby gate to curtail her great escapes when Mommy and Daddy are not looking. Audriana is crawling super fast to get to what she wants...a little too fast for Mommy! She also wakes up every morning either with all of her stuffed animals all over her crib or all of her soft books in a circle around her. My most favorite is when she stands in her crib, jumping up and down, and giggling to herself. She is such a character. The other day, I was playing hide-and-seek with Scout and she was laughing so hard that she fell over...which, of course, made me laugh so hard that I had to sit down.