september is here

Another week underway.  Ryan is still keeping busy with school.  I am still keeping busy with Cora and working on our place.  We did slip a little fun in though. ;)

On Memorial day we went to a ward picnic in the park.  It was fun to get to know more people and I am starting to remember names and faces.  Everyone is so welcoming and kind. 

I have been running again!!  It feels like it has been way too long since I've really been able to get a good run in.  Ryan has been watching Cora in the mornings before school (Cora is usually still sleeping) so I can go.  It is so nice to have a break from the baby and get to do something that I really want to.  I have just been running though neighborhoods nearby, but my last run was the most exciting.  I ran though a gigantic cemetery.  There are cemeteries everywhere.  At one point on this run I thought I was lost because I didn't realize how large the loop really was.  It was cool to see the old gravestones.  Some of then date back to the early 1800s and some just say " Mother" or "Father."  I thought that was interesting.  

Friday night we tried out this little Dutch Bakery that we keep on driving by.  It was worth the stop.  Sooo good.  We highly recommend it.  We'll be going back there.

We also finally tried cheesesteaks at McKinnley's.  Ryan's professors say they are better than Gino's and Pat's downtown.  (But as we have found out, Gino's and Pat's aren't actually that good...you gotta go to the little rundown corner shops for good cheesesteaks and hoagies).  McKinnley's did live up to the recommendation.  Once again, excellent food....and less than a mile down our street.  

We were planning on going to the Soap Box Races on Saturday, but tropical storm Hanna brought grey skies and lots of rain.  We decided against taking the baby out in the storm, but we certainly had our own little adventure.  We went to Target instead.  Seriously, it was an adventure.  Ryan even narrated it on video for us.  I'm not sure if we were just in one of those 'everything is hilarious moods' or if it really was that exciting.  Things were starting to get flooded.  It was entertaining.  

Cora has started to smile more often.  I love to see that she is actually smiling at something more than just gas or poop.  There was one time in the middle of the night when she was giving me huge smiles over and over again.  I wanted to encourage her, but it just happened to be 3 am.  It did make getting up in the night to feed her rewarding and worth it.  I must admit that she looks more like Ryan when she smiles.  Everyone, even strangers, say that she looks like her daddy.  She is totally awake a lot more during the day and she is getting better at going to bed at a similar time each evening.  She is generally just waking up once in the night around 2 or 3 am, but her day schedule is not quite a schedule yet.  As soon as I think she is on a 4 hr routine, she gets a growth spurt and wants to eat every 2 hrs.  It is always changing...I guess that is what we get to deal with when it is a 'feed on demand' system.  

On Sunday we went to church.  It was Stake Conference, but looked more like a missionary Zone Conference.  There are so many missionaries in the Philadelphia Stake....and a lot of investigators.  Really cool.  

As for plans this week, JANA'S COMING from BOSTON (in fact, she is in route RIGHT NOW)!!!  Krister and Sheri are planning on coming and visiting this week also!!! It is the first of many East Coast Anderson Family Dance Parties (minus the dance part). Also, this week Ryan starts clinicals.  I am curious to see how that works and how Ryan likes that part of his schooling.  As always, this week we will be continuing to find our way around, try out new things, and try to balance life, school, family, and fun.  

The bakery.  

This is where I was standing when taking the pic of the bakery....just to give you an idea of what it looks like around here.  

Look how big she has grown.  (And notice our awesome kitchen...yes, that is yellow sponge painted walls.)

Cute.  

Driving to Target.

Cora in the car during the storm.  

I know-blurry, but you can kinda see the flooding in the courtyard.

I made Ryan take a picture of me with the baby.  

I really don't have many pictures of me holding my baby.  I still need to hang our pictures.  

We had this lovely surprise when we got home from on Sunday.  

This is one of the many 'breaking news' videos that Ryan and I are obsessed with making.

This is Ryan's mean trick.  When ever I ask him to take a picture, lately he has tricked me and only taken videos.  Ryan you meany...maybe that is why I don't have very many pictures of me with the baby.