Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Keep Moving Forward...

Today's post is something that will touch your heart. I have to give credit to my friend, Erin Cobb, because I pulled this post right off her blog.

I wanted to carry the story, the memory and the message to my readers and keep it moving forward.

Thank you Erin! You truly are an angel and have touched so many lives through your personalitly and photography!

Posted Sundy, September 28, 2008 on http://www.thepigbear.blogspot.com/

in memory.

His name was Christian.

His grandfather was a spiritual mentor of mine, his mother an acquaintance. We were both pregnant with our first children and would often grin and admire each other's bellies in passing. In October Sarah was born and he was expected three months later.

Thanksgiving came. Christmas. And then, a handful of days before his due date, Christian was born -- still. Even now, coming up on three years later, typing those words takes my breath away. As a new mother still riding the wave of adrenaline and hormones and exhaustion I couldn't wrap my brain around such a loss despite the countless nights I lay awake trying. I still can't.

His mother and I became friends that winter, meeting for lunch and coffee and trips to the cemetery. Our conversations were punctuated by tears and questions. How? and Why? And Where is God? Timidly over lunch one day she said, almost whispering, "I have a picture. If you want to see it." And of course I did. Every new mother deserves to pass around photographs of her beautiful child, and this was no exception.

The polaroid told what I already knew would be true by looking at his mother - he was beautiful. All 8 1/2 pounds of him. A big, strapping, tragically-lost baby boy. But now, for his mother, the only physical reminder of those details was held in 2 or 3 polaroids snapped by hospital staff. She carried each of them in her purse. And she sat at lunch that day sobbing silently about how she never unwrapped him and looked at his feet. And she'll never get that chance again.

The heartbreaking truth of that story replays itself daily, hourly around our country. Even in 2008. According to the March of Dimes 1 in 200 babies are born still.

I was profoundly affected by Christian's birth and death. Several months later I heard about an organization called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep and knew working with them would be the way I would honor his mother's pain and his memory. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep has made it their mission to make sure that families in the throws of such loss leave the hospital with more than a grainy, temporary polaroid in their purse. Professional photographers like myself from around the country volunteer to photograph and preserve the memories of these beautiful children. I had my first call three weeks ago - twin girls - and my heart stopped. But the heart-wrenching time I spent with those girls was tempered by the knowledge that this family would have images of their babies to hold dear.

And before I left the hospital that day I did something with Christian and his mother, my friend, in mind. I carefully unwrapped each of those tiny baby girls, and photographed their feet.


As proclaimed by President Reagan in 1988, October is recognized as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. The Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation holds its Annual Fund Drive for six weeks starting in mid-September and ending in October. If you are in a place to make even a small contribution to NILMDTS, please know that doing so will continue to allow the organization to provide improved resources, training, communication, and other tools necessary in support of the professional photographers who provide the gift of free remembrance portraiture to families in need. Click here to read more about this campaign and to donate.



Monday, September 29, 2008

We're Back!!

Sorry to be out for so long!

We finally closed on our house last Friday so things have been super crazy, messy and not too much fun. Unpacking a house is hard work but we are so happy to finally have a home. I will post photos soon.

We did take a little break of unpacking and headed down to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. It's an amazing rock climbing area and a beautiful one for sure! We drove down Saturday evening (3 hour drive) and stayed the night camping at Miguel's Pizzeria. Yep, you can camp at a Pizza Place! It turned turned out to be delicious pizza and the camping...well, it wasn't horrible and actually turned out perfect for a one night introduction to the area. It's close quarters for sure but people were very friendly and nice to be around.

The fall colors are just beginning to change so we will be going back every weekend this October not to miss out! The climbing was fabulous and steep! We were all worn out by 1pm but what a wonderful day. Lucas was the crag charmer and made tons of friends. We feel so lucky to have such wonderful climbing so close. I will post photos of this too...soon!

Big hugs and more updates to come!

Love, The Anderson's

Friday, September 19, 2008

A Boy? A Girl? What are the Anderson's having???

This has been an exciting but crazy week with Hurricane Ike coming through town. Thousands of trees down and thousands of people out of power. We were lucky, only three days with out power but a lot of time waiting for our Friday appointment...the 20 week ultra sound!! As you can see, we are not patient enough to wait until the actual birth to find out the sex of baby number two!

So, we anxiously waited! Here I am enjoying electricity and pondering girl names...and boy names...
Enough sitting around, we headed to the gym to get in a little climbing. It's getting more and more interesting with my belly and center of gravity changing.

Here's daddy trying to look eXtreme as possible...

Here's Lucas with his stamps, play dough, markers, notebooks, magnetic toys, snacks and everything else to keep him busy.

Here's my baby belly starting to pop and as of today, I'm 20 weeks and 3 days!


And here's mommy, climbing with baby BOY number two!

Yep, it's an Anderson trait to have boys. Mike's sister Chirstina is a rarity for sure! We are excited and now can focus on boy names. Luckily, I saved all Lucas' baby clothes so we should be all set and ready to go in February!

For those who haven't seen the climbing gym "Urban Krag" here are a few more photos. It's built in a beautiful old church in downtown Dayton. It's very unique and the building lends to really long climbs which I can't fit in my camera frame.

And part of the bouldering area...notice the beautiful windows?!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Labor Day Weekend (Belated)

As you can see, I'm still behind in my photos but this should catch us up...almost!

During Labor Day weekend we decided to go explore Kentucky a little. We stopped in Louisville on our way to Elizabethtown. We drove downtown "Loo-Vul" and ran right into a World Festival. There were tons of people, music and food. Lucas even found his favorite corn-on-the-cob and did a little sidewalk drawings!
We stayed in Elizabethtown for the night. Lucas had no problem occupying his time with mommy's clothes.

We drove to Mammoth Cave bright and early...so early we were there way before the Visitor Center opened. Come to find out we were in Central time zone so we were extra, extra early with time to go hike and explore the trails.

Lucas was in no mood for photos...


We quickly realized that hiking was hot and humid even at 8am! We did find the main entrance to the cave where the temperature dropped 30-40 degrees...a little chilly! It was a wonderful find after hiking. Unfortunately, our tour was not scheduled until 1pm so we spent some time cooling off at the entrance and headed to the Visitor Center and restaurant to burn some more time.

One of the park rangers was using a leaf blower so the air was full of dust. It made for an eerie setting at the entrance...ghostly for sure!

Not a great photo but you can see a dust line above the opening of the cave. This is where the temperature instantly dropped.
Lip of the cave entrance...
Looking back to the entrance staircase...

Finally inside! Here is a big cavern, it was very impressive...

Walking underground, you can see Lucas' light stick glowing and my red shirt...
More underground shots...
Looking down a big hole...

Low ceiling...

Did he see a ghost?!

"Fat Man's Misery"...
Good to be short in this section...

Up, up, up the stairs...

Looking down? Looking up? Can't remember but it was impressive!

We made it!

I Squished the Caterpillar Mommy!

During our house inspection last week, I found a fuzzy little caterpillar on my pant leg. We put him outside and I gave Lucas a chance to check him out. After about a minute, Lucas came running over saying, "I squished the caterpillar Mommy!" He was very proud. I explained to him that the caterpillar was now sad and unable to turn into a beautiful butterfly. Usually when I tell Lucas something gets sad he turns very concerned and wants to talk about why something is sad. This time he just looked at me and said, "I like to squish caterpillars" and walked off.

A few hours later while we were hiking he asked me, "Why do I like to squish caterpillars?" I told him I didn't know but it made the caterpillar sad. I could tell he was still thinking about the whole thing. Then he asked, "How can the caterpillar be sad if I squished him?" I said, "Well, he can't really be sad anymore because he's dead and no longer able to move around or be happy or sad." He seemed to be very content that the caterpillar wasn't sad, he was just dead. To Lucas, this was a happy ending...no sadness. So, we went on hiking and tossing rocks into the river with no more mention of the caterpillar.

Friday, September 12, 2008

I Love You Grace!

My dear friend from Colorado, Grace, recently sent me the photo below. I think she could sense that I was morphing into a real pregnant lady now that I'm in my 5th month and due in February. Not that morphing is bad especially when it's creating a little life that will come into this world and give us all a run for our money! Lucas is already talking about what a good big brother he is going to be.

Grace took this photo last Summer/Fall when we were all climbing in Lander, Wyoming at a wonderful place called Wild Iris. It's sooo beautiful there and we are going to definitely miss having it only 6 hours away.

It took me awhile to figure out who was in the photo...I had no idea that I had muscles like that! Photographers are usually seeking out my husband for some climbing feature for a magazine so I have to admit it's fun to see myself in a climbing photo. It's inspiring too especially because it was taken after having Lucas. See ladies, there is hope after our bodies morph into round, plump baby making machines!

This photo will inspire me to continue to workout and climb, as well as, remind me how wonderful it is to be a rock climber and able to spend days in locations like Wild Iris...or the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. I love spending time with my family and what a wonderful venue to do so!

Thank you Grace! You made me smile and not dwell on my latest shopping trip to the maternity section of Old Navy! Great big hugs! Love, Janelle

P.S. I think we are due for some belly shots soon! :)

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Discovering Dayton!


Here's a little snap shot of what we have been doing in Dayton.

Sugarcreek Metropark, wonderful trees and hiking...
The tree tunnel, one of our favorites...

Making old fashioned grilled cheese sandwiches at another Metropark which has an old 1800's farm to explore...
The fire where we cooked our treats...
Making bread...
Practicing his tumbling with Daddy during the Olympics...
Mommy on real rock for the first time after Mike's accident...
Skippin' rocks at the river after climbing...
River view and more wonderful trees...
Skippin' rocks turning into finding the biggest ones we could carry to make big splashes for Lucas...
Lucas the Astronaut at the Air & Space Museum...
We thought Grandma J would get a kick out of this "Wicked Wanda" jet. Don't worry Grandma, we know you're not wicked, just wonderful!
Boonshoft Children's Museum at the water table...
Lego table...
Dinosaur stamps...
We are finding lots to do and getting used to our new home.
Big hugs and have a wonderful weekend.
The Anderson's

First Day of Preschool

Lucas is a big boy now! Yep, he goes to preschool every Tuesday and Thursday for half days. It was an adjustment for sure because mommy and daddy couldn't stay with him but he's doing great and getting used to his new routine.

He was a little sad on day one after realizing we were gone but after school, I took him to the big library across the street to show him where mommy works while he's at school. I think this really eased his mind because he said, "I don't have to be sad anymore, you're just across the street at the library!"

Not the happiest face ever...

Being so brave...

Good thing mommy and daddy are here...

Okay, I'm ready...
There's the happy boy! Way to go Lucas, such a big boy!!!

Above Photo: Downtown Portland Oregon Bike Ride

The Danger Zone needed a little update to include not only LUCAS DANGER, but also his little brother...AXEL ADVENTURE!

Welcome to our family blog now known as:


DANGER and ADVENTURE Around Every Corner!!

Enjoy!!