Like Father Like Son

It's true. Robert looks a lot like his Dad. He must be a good mix though because people that don't know Andy comment Robert looks just like me. I hope he grows up just like his Papa, maybe a little less argumentative though (smile). Just having fun Andy-I love you and your arguments!

So here are some great photo comparisons to show just how much Robert is his Papa's son.....


Andy at ~15 months (plaid on of course, he started at an early age)

Andy at 28 years old (still in plaid) and Robert following suit at ~10 months. This was a camping trip to the Little Lost June 2009.


When they aren't in plaid, they wear camo. Robert's ~13 months old here. This is a hunting trip in September of 2009.


If they don't wear plaid and we're not on a hunting trip (camo), then they at least sport the colors of camo. Afterall, green is the primary outdoors' color and if you can't blend in with a tree you might as well dress the approporiate color, just in case. This is our annual Yellowstone trip October 2009. Robert is ~14 months old.


Andrew at ~18 months old sporting the sunglasses.

Andy with his Top Gun sunglasses and Robert following along with Uncle Brent's Mission Impossible sunglasses.

They both even LOVE cleaning up. Well, maybe they don't love it, but everything has a place and should be there when not in use. Robert will already sing the clean-up song to me, without any prompting, when he sees a mess or before it's time to leave the house or time for bed. Everything must be put away, it's so cute. When we're eating dinner his cup has to sit in the little circle cutout on his tray--just like his Papa!

Each Moment

Now don't get me wrong in this post. I love my life, love my family. I have so much happiness around me, but I've been reflecting on what makes happiness tick. So, here goes.

Robert is growing so fast. I was thinking the other day about that quote something about Life isn't about Breath-taking Moments, but about the Moments that Take Your Breath Away. We start filling our schedules with STUFF that should be important and self-fullfilling and then wonder why our "happiness meter" is low. The things that get my happiness meter going are the small things that don't actually make it on the OFFICIAL schedule like

• playing cars with Robert
• sitting and reading books until Robert is bored
• putting on music and dancing around the house
• running around the house with Robert in the backpack carrier
• baking cookies for Andy
• going on walks jsut because I want to not because I want to exercise

My favorite quote of all time is "Happiness is wanting what you have." I've given that quote to at least a dozen people on a plaque of some sort--I don't have one for myself yet though. It puts into perspective our accountability in regards to our attitude. I could have all the THINGS in the world, but if I didn't want them I'd be miserable. No one can change our attitude for us. If the happiness meter is struggling to launch, then I need to make an attitude adjustment and SCHEDULE in some time to be happy.


Robert loves the backpack. I was running from the front door, through the living room and kitchen, down into the family, and then turning back to do it again. He thought it was the best! Luckily Andy snapped this picture to capture his face (and my lovely hair in my eyes).


There are a couple things Robert LOVES--more than a couple, but a few illustrated in this photo are 1) being "nakee" 2) shoes and 3) hats. I believe he was telling me he wanted to go "bye bye" and was trying to persuade me to put some shoes on him so he could leave. Little did he know it was bath time and then bed time, not time to go "bye bye."


On the list of things he loves is definately the bath. He figured out a couple weeks ago how to really start splashing and bath time has now accelerated to a whole new level. I know, what a mess, right? Well, I tell myself "it's just water." It soaks up in a towel really well. If little boys can't have some fun splashing in the tub every now and then, what has this world come to?

Silly Family Pics

Cost for the new boots--$$$

Cost for the hat and coat--$$

Cost for the sled--$

Expression on the sleigh ride--priceless

I just like this picture because I think my legs look skinny.


Andy kept saying he didn't know what to do with his hands. I don't know if I should laugh or be worried that his expression is so complacent with his hands around my neck.

The Boy needed a little tickling "encouragement" to get his smile going.



I guess Andy thought I needed some "encouragement" also.

Family Pics

These are a few of my favorites, Andy may have different picks. Honestly they are all so good it's hard to pick. I have so many. Looking through all of them I have an overwhelming love for my family. I am SO blessed. So many people are suffering and experiencing devastating trials, but I am calmed knowing that we are healthy, have a roof over our heads, and a way to provide for ourselves. We are so blessed! There is no way God is oblivious to our situation or isn't there at all. God is there--here. Everything around me increases my realization that He loves me and knows me and blesses me.

Thanks Britt these pics are great!

Robert and Cutter

We had our friends Jake and Brittany over for dinner the other night. The boys were down playing and when we peaked in on them they were sitting side by side on the cars pushing buttons and both in their own little world. Of course as soon as I got the camera Robert got up and didn't want to sit still. But it was so cute they were both so intent on their buttons and lights and music.

Olive Fingers

Robert loved having the olives on his fingers.  He loved eating them off of his fingers.  He loved spitting them back out before swallowing any of it.  He was frustrated trying put the olives back on his fingers.  And it was all so much fun to watch. We took them off, put them back on, took them off, put them back on. One of the things I loved about my Grandma Stinger was she always had olives-only we had to eat them. She wouldn't let us waste any. Since this was his first time we'll let it slide this time.

Cute little Stinker

Today after church, Andrew was ready to change Robert's cl0thes so he wouldn't get his Christmas outfit dirty, "Wait, we need a picture!" I say from the other room. This was the best one of a long line of photo shots with our timer. Today in Relief Society, Robert was drawing on some paper sitting on the floor. There was about 10 minutes left and he decided it was time to go. He started putting his cars, books, paper, etc. into his diaper bag. When it was all packed he handed me the strap and whined a little for me to put it on. There was only a few minutes left, we can wait another 5 minutes, right? I put the strap on my shoulder to appease him, but that wasn't enough. He took my hand and headed for the door. I'd love to hear his thoughts sometimes. I can just imagine him saying, "Mom, I'm tired, ready for lunch, Church is over, let's go." We went to the lobby and waited for Andy's primary class to get out. It was so cute.

We had spaghetti the other night for dinner. He loves feeding himself. He tries to use a fork or spoon, and is successful for the first few bites and then just can't get the rest in fast enough. Then comes the handfuls of food aimed at the general area of the mouth. Mmmm Mmmm Good!

I just love this because they're both bundled and ready to go. Robert usually needs a few minutes to warmup to his hat and coat, but eventurally he does smile while wearing them. The pouty picutres are just so stinking cute.

It's Almost Christmas!

This year I feel is complete BEFORE Christmas instead of right up to the deadline. WE've made our Gingerbread House, although the roof is a little funky. I forgot to cut out the front and back with an "eve." But nonetheless, we have a gingerbread house.

We drove to Knox Canyon and cut down our Christmas tree.

Well, actually Andy cut down the tree, I was getting the video camera out but was not fast enough to get the cutting so we got the pics!

It's almost here!!!!

Thanksgiving

November got cold just before we left for Thanksgiving. We drove to Colorado to see my sisters Jill and Anna. Anyway, it was way too cold to not give Robert his new coat we were saving for Christmas. I'm glad we gave it to him early, I didn't want him to be cold, but more importantly he didn't really like it. As you can tell from the face of protest. It's better to save the gifts he'll really like for Christmas and give all the crappy gifts for at other times of the year. See? We're learning.

Third times the charm! Following true Van Orden tradition (that is my sister Jill's family) we all went for a hike Thanksgiving morning to work up our appetite. We took a beautiful hike to Horsetooth Falls, unfortunately it was more of a drip, but still very enjoyable as it was at least 65 degrees. We wanted a family portrait at the base of the Falls and had ask Jill to take the photo with our camera. After the first few shots she put the camera down and said, "Well so far Andy is the only one cooperating!" Oops...aka "Hold still Lacey!" The final product was well worth it.

Yeah, those sunglasses were broken shortly after this photo was taken. The Boy got a little too carried away. They were only $1.

Amanda, myself, Andrew, Joe, and John hiked to the top of the Falls. There was actually a trail that goes to the top, I didn't know that, maybe the others did. We scaled the rocks to the top. It was fun as you can tell by our smiling faces and waving hands.

This is where the Falls should be falling.

Squirrel

First; the story. Friday night as Lacey and I were finishing up dinner Lacey looked over at one of our end tables next to the couch to notice some tiny brown "pebbles" on top of it, and she wondered aloud if it could be poo. "Naw" I said, "It's probably just some of the mess that we missed from that party you hosted the other day." After all there were a lot of small kids that are very proficient mess makers that were in our house during that party. So we cleaned it up without much thought.

Then, later on that evening we found a couple of more "pebbles" on top of the recliner, and wondered again if it could be poo. Again we decided to chalk it up to some messy kids, rationalizing that it was way too big to be mouse poo, and that a mouse would stay on the floor anyway.

Fast forward to Saturday morning. The boy is down for a nap, and Lacey is out doing some errands, so I take the opportunity to sit down and watch some football. After a bit I heard the laundry buzz and decided that I ought to get that changed over. So I hit pause on the game and got up to go into the laundry room.

However, a low rustling noise stopped me from getting too far. I thought that it was probably just some leaves blowing around outside, but in the back of my mind I thought it was probably the source of all that brown stuff we'd found the night before. As I continued to listen, I heard the noise again and was convinced that it was coming from behind our hide-a-bed. Wanting to investigate some more I peered over the back and saw a brown blur jump out of view.

This startled me, and after a second or two I looked back and saw that a squirrel was behind our couch. Not wanting to have the thing go postal on me I grabbed my monopod to poke at it and it ran to the other end of the house.

So I got the video camera out to help me chase it, and this is what happened.

The squirrel finally crawled under the Boy's bedroom door and lodged itself behind his bookcase. About the time I had discovered it in there Lacey had arrived home and was good enough to play goalie and herd it back outside.

We figure that it was probably living with for a day or two before we noticed the droppings, and the only way we can figure that it got in was by falling down the chimney. Either that or it was just real quick running through the front door when we were coming or going.