The Wanderson Blog

Visiting G and J and Q

2010-01-30T08:28:00.003-05:00

Over Christmas the family went to visit G and J and Q in Raleigh. Those babies had a great time! Q is such a good and cute baby - although he's approaching toddler time now that he is a year old and walking!!! We hope to see you guys soon!

Memories of warmer times

2010-01-30T08:15:00.004-05:00

Since it's cold and dark outside, (and snowing 10 inches in North Carolina) I thought I would post this video of Aggie playing in the park during the fall. Oh how I miss nice weather!

Cast and Play-dough fun

2010-01-13T20:58:00.001-05:00

Aggie broke her finger some time ago and had to have a full body cast – not really, but it was a full arm cast. It was really pitiful, but she took it pretty well. One thing we have been doing, since its too cold to play outside, is to play with playdough. We made a da da fish, a babar, a flower, and a strawberry.

Christmas at the new house

2010-01-13T20:53:00.001-05:00

Although we didn’t celebrate Christmas at our new house, we did have a fun time having a tree. Aggie liked to help put it up. Isn’t it the perfect tree? Melissa did a great job. Melissa and Aggie also wrote Santa a letter and put in in the mail!

Visiting Mel’s family

2010-01-13T20:39:00.001-05:00

We saw Mel’s family for Thanksgiving and got some of these cute pictures of the babies hanging out with their grandma and great-grandma.

Random Holiday pictures

2010-01-13T20:29:00.001-05:00

Hi all, its been what? Years since the blog has been updated. Some people have suggested that facebook killed the blog just like video killed the radio star.

But they were wrong. Here are some random holiday pictures.

Children's Museum

2010-01-13T09:28:00.003-05:00

Atlanta has a really great Children's Museum that my mom and I took Aggie to a few weekends ago. Here are some videos of Aggie playing with balls and carrying around a dada pig, as well as a "bird on the hand" which Aggie hasn't stopped talking about ever since!

ps - expect more updates soon since we moved the computer into the living room and can now use it (since it was in a room with no heating!!!!)

Aggie PMO

2009-11-03T22:04:00.002-05:00

Aggie and her PMO Teachers and Classmates

More Aggie Portraits

2009-11-03T22:02:00.001-05:00

Portraits and PMO pictures.

More Nico and Aggie

2009-11-03T22:00:00.003-05:00

Aggie, Nico, and Dog--that's Aggie's main lovie.

Nico Portraits

2009-11-03T21:58:00.002-05:00

Nico's first trip to the portrait studio. Funny, isn't he?

Halloween Pictures!

2009-11-03T21:36:00.001-05:00

Ah Halloween, the number 2 in the holy trinity of childhood holidays (not sure what number 3 is…). Aggie went as a Dalmatian. She’s really into Dalmatians right now and can’t get enough of “Mamma Dadda Dog” which means 101 Dalmatians.

Sat around the pile, sat and laughed, sat and laughed and waved it into the air. (You know the song) – it happens to have dogs at the beginning.

Mixed pictures

2009-11-03T21:15:00.001-05:00

Auntie A and Nico

Sleepy family

Digging for gold

There’s gold in them nostrils

Smile little baby!

Super Chunk

2009-11-03T21:10:00.001-05:00

We have heard the cries: we need more pictures. So here are a few of Nico and Melissa!

Muscleman

2009-10-10T21:36:00.002-05:00

The title explains it all!

Our New Home

2009-10-10T21:29:00.001-05:00

After the disaster of the floods and contractors, we have moved into a new house. Here are a few initial pictures of the front and back. We are on a major street (N. Decatur Rd), but we have double-paned windows, which makes traffic much quieter. We also have a great deck and a pretty good sized yard – which I don’t have to mow!

Our first priority was getting Aggie settled. Here are some pictures of her new room.

Singing Happy Birthday to Aggie

2009-10-10T21:02:00.002-05:00

Poor Aggie, it's her birthday, but she's too embarrassed!

Aggie's Birthday

2009-10-10T20:44:00.003-05:00

You all probably know that Aggie loves the movie Cars. So for her birthday, we got a Cars cake at publix and took it to her PMO program to celebrate her birthday. He is the video of when we came into the room.

Aggie’s Birthday

2009-10-10T20:39:00.001-05:00

Here are some pictures of Aggie eating her birthday cake! She turned 2 today, Saturday 10/10

Mommy and the babies

2009-08-28T12:09:00.001-05:00

Couch Potato

2009-08-28T11:43:00.001-05:00

Aggie loves her videos. When she watches them she goes into a catatonic state. We gave here a small snack of juice and popcorn (only a little bit) and look at here. She is prepared for modern life.

Cars

2009-08-22T20:03:00.001-05:00

Aggie is addicted to Cars. She cannot stop thinking or talking about Cars nor wanting to watch the video. Case in point: putting lots of Cars stickers all over me and her arms!

Eating and Sleeping

2009-08-22T18:41:00.001-05:00

One baby eats and then sleeps, the other rejects most of her food – or at least she did when she had strep throat! Now she is eating pretty good again.

Outside and Chalk Drawings

2009-08-22T18:34:00.001-05:00

Here’s a few more pictures for those of you wondering how Aggie and Nico are getting along. Aggie loves the outside and especially drawing with chalk. Nico was a little jaundiced, so we need to expose him to sunlight – we found out that he wasn’t a vampire baby.

Whoops

Aggie meets Nico

2009-08-13T20:56:00.001-05:00

Aggie is very interested in the new gnome…

Hi K and B and Grandma!

Random baby pictures

2009-08-13T20:51:00.002-05:00

Here are some random pictures of Nico stretching and looking like a gnome.

Does he look like Moe Syzlak to anyone?

Going Home

2009-08-13T20:48:00.001-05:00

Yes, after 1 day in the hospital, we are going home!

At the Zoo

2009-08-05T13:52:00.001-05:00

I know, its been a while since I’ve updated the blog – sorry. Here are some new pictures of us going to the zoo a few weeks ago. We were getting a new roof, so we had to go somewhere (thanks B and K!!)

The Toddler Pool

2009-07-05T10:38:00.001-05:00

They have a great pool here in Decatur for the little ones. It has a “beach” style entry, with bubblers at the most shallow part (as you will see below). In most places, the water is about 2 ft high, but it gets deeper and there are some swimming lanes for actual exercise.

We went for the first time on July 4th with Aggie’s Auntie Amy.

Gross – nice back hair daddy!

8 months and counting

2009-07-02T20:30:00.001-05:00

For those of you who are wondering how M is progressing with Butt Pants II, here is the evidence.

He’ll be here in August

More Aggie and Griffy pix

2009-07-02T20:22:00.001-05:00

Wild Idol? hmmmmm…….

No! I don’t want to go to bed!!!!

Get off!

I said get off!

Look how cute they can be together.

Yeah, swings!!!

Aggie and Griffin

2009-07-02T20:17:00.001-05:00

When they get married, we’ll bring this photo out to embarrass them

This baby wants to check facebook

Free tickets to the Biltmore house, two babies…

Priceless

More cute Aggie pictures

2009-07-02T20:04:00.001-05:00

She wants to rock and roll!

Some cute blurry pictures

RIP 1948-2009

2009-06-03T14:33:00.001-05:00

My father passed away in his sleep a few weeks ago.

He is dearly missed.

Grandma’s visit

2009-06-03T14:26:00.001-05:00

Of course there had to be a picture of them at the park!

Aggie used to hate the swing set, but now she loves it.

Aggie at the Park

2009-06-03T14:22:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Microsoft, these blog posts can be a little fancier…

She loves these little cars!

Look its mommy at the park too!

Some cute pix of Aggie outside

2009-06-03T14:16:00.001-05:00

Yes, I am doing yard work in the background. How domesticated!

Come on ride that snail

2009-05-03T14:55:00.002-05:00

Other Stuff

2009-05-03T14:49:00.001-05:00

One cool cat brushes her teeth

Close-ups

Another portrait

More Aggie Pics

2009-05-03T14:44:00.003-05:00

Spring pictures of Aggie at 18 months old

Aggie loves her dogs.

More outside

Aggie Loves Being Outside in the Spring

2009-05-03T14:38:00.002-05:00

Ball!

Farmer Aggie

Walt's future

Family Pics

2009-05-03T14:29:00.004-05:00

Miranda and Cody (Mel's brother and sister)

Snack Time

Jennifer, Aggie, and Lila

Sisters (Mel, Miranda, and Jennifer)

Long Time No Post

2009-05-03T14:18:00.003-05:00

Aggie and her cousin, Lila.

Aggie's new singing snail rocker. Salvation Army Thrift Store--$9.00!

One messy eater

2009-04-21T13:45:00.001-05:00

It was great when Aggie started to feed herself, but look at her!

Auntie A's visit

2009-04-21T13:33:00.002-05:00

Remember how great it was for Auntie A to buy Aggie the wagon? Well, she visited twice in a month and got a lot of opportunities to play with Aggie! Too bad we only took a few pictures during her visit. Here are the best ones:

Two cute babies

2009-04-21T13:16:00.002-05:00

We've got tons of pictures that are waiting to be posted. Here are some that were taken months ago at C and B's house. Aren't baby Aggie and Griffin cute together?

Hey, back off my water!

A beautiful Spring Princess

2009-04-21T13:08:00.001-05:00

Spring is here, Melissa is taking her oral exams right now, and tomorrow is my last day of teaching! Here are some cute pictures of Aggie wearing her clover princess crown that Melissa made for her while I was teaching yesterday!

How Cute!

Aggie takes on the snow

2009-03-01T22:00:00.003-05:00

One more snow video - this time Aggie tried to walk in it....

Snow Video

2009-03-01T21:47:00.003-05:00

Here is some video of the snow falling around the house.

The biggest highlight might be me almost falling!

More snow pictures

2009-03-01T17:08:00.001-05:00

Our Wedding Cake

2009-03-01T12:52:00.002-05:00

A few weeks late, here is a picture of the wonderful wedding cake B and K cooked for us!

Cute Bathtime photos

2009-03-01T12:45:00.002-05:00

Trying to clear the backlog of photos here to be posted on the blog. These are some cute baby in the bath pictures. Thanks to Auntie M for the tugboat!

Snow!?!?

2009-03-01T11:51:00.002-05:00

Yes, snow in Atlanta on March 1st. I took this video at 11:30 or so. Its 12:15 and the snow is finally sticking on the porch and the ground. I will try to post more pics and videos as the news story progresses. Its not Aggie's first snow, but it is the first snow when she could see it and play in it!

Trip to the Park

2009-02-15T14:09:00.002-05:00

This week had almost spring-like temperatures, and so we went to the park with Aggie. She had a wonderful time!

She hates the swings though.

But she really loves going down the slide!

Stop, Wagon Time

2009-02-15T13:53:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Auntie McAmy, this baby has a new toy - one she can't stop playing with. In fact, she stands at the door and cries until we take her outside to play with the wagon. Sometimes, like yesterday, we had to play with the wagon 5 times throughout the day!

Another big announcement!

2009-02-06T16:59:00.002-05:00

How many big things can happen in such a short time? Well, in just a few months, I got my PHD, got married, and now.....

We are having another baby!!

Say hello to stinky butt pants 2

Well, he/she will be here in August!

Forget MMW, now the cool band is AMA

2009-02-03T21:23:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure, but it looks like we have a budding acid-jazz musician on our hands ...

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Wanderson

2009-01-17T20:55:00.002-05:00

So we finally did it - yes, after 10 years of engagement, we took the plunge and got married. We will plan some sort of celebration in the future, but will gladly accept congratulations now.

Here's where we got married. Such nice decorations huh? At least it wasn't at a bullet proof window like the courthouse where one of Ch.'s friends got married! Aggie liked the lights, since as you can see she didn't turn for the picture...

What a cute family.

Before saying the "I dos" we had to wait to get the actual marriage license. Aggie, of course, had no idea what was going on, but she enjoyed playing with her baby and trying to put her baby into the stroller.

A new potty

2008-12-17T17:12:00.003-05:00

One of Aggie's Christmas presents this year is a potty. She likes to take it apart and put her baby dolls in it. Not sure what that really means....

Aggie and the Dog Beds

2008-12-17T17:09:00.002-05:00

Sorry, we have been busy, but I didn't know it was a month since we last posted! Well, there has been a lot going on around here.

For example, Aggie thinks she is a dog and always tries to sleep with the dogs in their dog beds. She turns around and sits right on the dogs!

A. and A.'s wedding

2008-11-05T14:05:00.002-05:00

My good friend from high school A. got married this weekend to his long-time girlfriend A. Confusing huh? Stupid blogging etiquette. Anyways, it was a nice, short wedding, I briefly spoke about marriage through the ages, and it was a fun reception.

Aggie enjoyed the dancing!

Here is beautiful A. with Aggie.

Congratulations A. and A.!!!!

Look at those two handsome bald guys.

Visits

2008-11-05T13:38:00.003-05:00

We have had a busy two months. Now only is school and work killing us, but we have had a lot of great times with visitors. Here is just a sample of the people who have come to see us ... in Ch. and Griffin's case, we went to them.

Who is that other baby? Did M. and I have another one?

Grandma and grandpa were here. Aggie really likes them, as you can see.

J.F. and H.F. were here too. We went to hike up Stone Mountain, home of the modern KKK and a large number of nature trails. You know how those racists like to get their exercise on.

And finally, our first visitor of the year, M.'s grandmother with Aggie. She finally conquered the force field around her house!

Finally!

2008-11-05T12:49:00.006-05:00

Finally, a president we can all look up to - one who knows how to use English words! I just glad that I finally voted for the winning team - Nader in 2000? What was I thinking? I was actually thinking about voting for the really old guy this time because who I vote for always loses! (Just kidding of course)

Aggie went with us to vote. She voted for Barack O'baby whose campaign promise was to change every dirty diaper after the 8-year rotting stench in washington.

We also have new baby pictures (finally!!) These are just a selection of the cutest collection.

Aggie's First Birthday

2008-10-12T17:16:00.003-05:00

Mel, Ajit, Camila, and Aggie

Jenny, Angie, and Amy
Aggie Plays with Daddy

More Anderson Pics

2008-09-15T22:28:00.002-05:00

Yum

Aggie's sleepy, but she just won't stop

Feel the love

Mel's dad, sister, brother, and their significant others at Sky Dive the Farm in Rockmart, GA

Visiting with Family

2008-09-15T22:20:00.001-05:00

Miranda, Lila, and Aggie all meet for the first time.

Aggie and her favorite baby (thanks Amy!)

Look into our future

Two pretty ladies

Identical cousins

Aggie and her cousin Lila

2008-09-15T21:30:00.005-05:00

For all you Aggie fans out there, here's a video we took over the weekend. Melissa's sister M.A. came down to visit her father, and we were able to get the babies together for the first time!

Those cousins love each other already.

Some Other Pics

2008-09-05T17:21:00.002-05:00

Sometimes she gets really tired on her walks and we just leave her be.

In the pool at Grandma and Grandpa W's

Aggie and Daddy--and her orange octopus.

At the beach

2008-09-03T13:15:00.002-05:00

She really didn't like it that much.

Stay tuned for more posts and videos. Sorry we're so lame...very, very busy here.

Eat and Sleep

2008-09-03T13:02:00.002-05:00

Trying to get her to do either one is tough these days. She's far too busy to be bothered with such tedious tasks.

Aggie stand and dance

2008-09-03T12:57:00.002-05:00

She can do it
.

DL and JL

2008-08-04T14:44:00.004-05:00

Some of you may have looked at the story of Jud that I added to the links section a few weeks ago. If you haven't please do - its a heart wrenching story. This is DL and JL (along with CL) who kindly provided a place to stay and ride to the airport after my very quick trip to LA. Jesse was a little scared of me (maybe it was the beard) but she quickly warmed up once I showed her pictures of Aggie. She didn't want to pose for the camera. Thanks! Let's all hope thaat nextr year is better for them

Introducting Dr. Walt ... Part 2

2008-08-04T14:26:00.002-05:00

I wonder, do I look calm? Because I'm not. At this point in the day I was pacing back and forth waiting for the graduate adviser, HP, to arrive and tell me that all was not lost. I was missing a signature on one of my forms, and I was afraid that I wouldn't get it. I told M. and JS that if I wasn't allowed to graduate, I would cry man tears.

The process was actually easier than I thought it would be. I got the needed signature, went down to the graduate office, then saw the thesis adviser, then back to the graduate office, then a trip to the registrar, and I got the form saying I was done!

Please note: there was a woman crying in the graduate office because she didn't have the right signature on one of her forms. I felt really bad for her.

But after all the worry, here I am. Dr. Walt! Look at me, so happy with my form in front of the library!

And my wonderful chair, CR, had a great dinner party for me. It was a wonderful dinner, home made with soup and salads and a wonderful salmon and spinach stuffing inside a pastry. The description doesn't do justice to how good it was! Then there was also this awesome cake with a "Happy PHD" written in candles. Thanks everyone!

Below are the people who attended (plus me of course):

Introducting Dr. Walt ... Part 1

2008-08-04T14:04:00.003-05:00

So many of you know that I have been close to finishing my dissertation for a few months now, but it is finally finished! I turned it in on Friday, and now I am officially a Ph.d. A Doctor of Philosophy... but really of history. I wanted to thank my committee members for letting me graduate!

I went to LA for two days to turn in the dissertation, so I thought I would tell you all a little about the journey. First thing, I get to the airport and there is a lot of rain and lightning. I'm thinking that my flights would be delayed, and yep, they sure where. I was supposed to fly to Memphis on the way to LA, but my flight here was already delayed till after the other flight was supposed to leave!

So I got on another flight straight to LA. Supposed to take off at 6:50. Then it was 8:20. Then it was 9:30. Finally, at 10:30 after an hour of delays because of more weather, my flight departed - over 5 hours later then I was originally to leave Atlanta.

Here I am at the airport, trying to look grumpy for the blog! I really just look the same...

I really felt bad, because my friend JS was waiting for me at the airport. I called her when we were going to fly at 9:30, but we were on the runway when we were delayed until 10;30 and I couldn't use the phone! So poor JS got to the airport, but I was going to be an hour late. So she slept in the back of her Bug - seen here.

Luckily for her, the car was perfumed with "Cat Butt". I'm not sure that was a good or bad thing. I've never smelled a good smelling cat butt before...

So JS was kind enough to give me a ride to UCLA. Here's LA out of the window as we drove by...

tune in tomorrow for more

or maybe later today

First Trip to the Pool

2008-07-21T10:11:00.002-05:00

We took Aggie to the public pool this week. It was great fun for all--especially Walt's back hair.

Squash

2008-07-21T10:06:00.002-05:00

Aggie was teething on this squash. Yum!

The High Museum in Atlanta

2008-07-21T09:46:00.002-05:00

We went to the High Museum of Art in ATL a couple of weeks ago so that Walt could see the ancient collection on loan from the Louvre. They have lots of cool stuff there.

Our new car--it rocks!

Walt's Parents Come to Visit

2008-07-21T09:40:00.002-05:00

Walt's parents came a few weeks ago, but its hard to post pictures and watch this baby at the same time, so they are a bit delayed. As you can see, my mom is enjoying feeding this baby her big girl food.

What a cute sleeping girl!

And of course, my Dad got a chance to hold his granddaughter!

Aggie's College Savings Account

2008-07-20T18:51:00.004-05:00

Hi all,

We all know that Aggie has a birthday coming up in October. We know that many of you will want to give gifts. Instead, think about donating to her college savings account. She will thank you in about 17 years!

We are opening a 529 plan for her here in Georgia (thanks jf for the idea). If you live in GA, you can deduct the amount contributed from your state taxes. All income from the account will be earned without taxes for her, so it is a great deal for her future. For more info, contact us!

Aggie Crawls to Mommy

2008-06-26T16:31:00.003-05:00

Aggie Eats a Lime

2008-06-26T16:20:00.003-05:00

Aggie enjoyed this lime off of my glass while we were having dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

Aggie Talks

2008-06-26T16:13:00.002-05:00

Aggie Watches TV

2008-06-26T16:05:00.002-05:00

Aggie Laughs at Stubby

2008-06-26T15:43:00.002-05:00

Aggie Tries to Crawl

2008-06-26T15:16:00.003-05:00

We took this video several weeks ago. She has since gotten the hang of it--see other videos.

Aggie Jumperoo

2008-06-26T15:00:00.002-05:00

More NC Pics

2008-06-21T16:12:00.002-05:00

Aggie and her Nana

Walt holding C and B's new baby Griffin. So cute!

The Wandersons and Bishmarks

NC Trip

2008-06-21T16:03:00.002-05:00

We took a trip to NC ti visit family and friends last week. Here are some pics from our travels...

Aggie was beat.

Aggie and Aunt A. We got to check out her cool new pad in Raleigh.

Aggie and her Granny (M's paternal grandmother).

Aggie and Janet (M's mom's BFF and a close family friend).

Aggie and her grandma.

New Aggie Pics

2008-06-07T16:19:00.003-05:00

Visiting C

Playing and sleeping

Aggie eats spinach in Germany

2008-06-07T14:28:00.002-05:00

In Germany, Melissa tries to feed Agatha some spinach:

I don't think she liked it!

Expect more pictures and videos soon.

Jobby Job

2008-05-22T19:04:00.004-05:00

Just in case anyone is still reading the blog and interested in what Walt is doing and not that baby, here is a brief update:

While Mel and Aggie were in Germany, I had about 2 and a half weeks of solid working time. I have essentially finished the dissertation - the text is completely done, but there is the bibliography and some maps/tables to complete.

At the end of May I will be mailing the completed dissertation to my committee, who will then read it, and make comments. I plan to file the dissertation at the end of July, and then I will be Dr. Walt...

Also, I had an interview with Georgia State University this week, and I got the job! Its a one year position with almost-automatic renewal for up to three years. Its not tenure track (obviously), but it is very close to where we live, and I can take the train to work.

Its been a very exciting few weeks!

Even More

2008-05-17T14:38:00.003-05:00

Pigs for good luck

This centaur flies above an old arcade (Victorian shopping mall--see Benjamin).

An old church and (below) Hamburg City Hall. It was getting late in the day, hence the poor image quality.

The plaza by city hall. That's a WWI memorial in the background.

Well, we've had a great time. We're flying home tomorrow. See you all soon.

Pics from the city of Hamburg

2008-05-17T14:31:00.004-05:00

Stumbling Stones--a public memorial that is used in Berlin and Hamburg to mark places where Jews lived before they were deported during the Nazi regime.

We had lunch at this little artists compound in a bohemian neighborhood in Hamburg.

Hamburg's manhole cover---the free Hanseatic City of Hamburg

Hamburger Kunsthalle

2008-05-17T14:26:00.003-05:00

Here are pics of some of the art we saw.

"Nana"

Aggie got tired.

The typewriter choir on the ceiling. It automatically plays a "song."

Trip to Hamburg

2008-05-17T14:17:00.003-05:00

We took a train to Bremen and then on to Hamburg.

At the Hamburg train station

We went to the Hamburger Kunsthalle museum to see an exhibit on Valloton. It was really three museums in one, so we also saw a bunch of stuff by the masters and a Rothko retrospectve.

some of the city

More cuteness in Oldenburg

2008-05-17T14:10:00.003-05:00

We went to the Horst Janssen Museum in Oldenburg. He's their famous late_twentieth century artist. The exhibit we saw was about how he was influenced by Rembrandt. Very cool; they also had Rembrandt prints.

Then we ate lunch at a really neat Indian restaurant. The owner put down this playmat for Aggie.

Even More

2008-05-17T14:04:00.002-05:00

Inside the university

and outside

it's about time...

"Hello Breakfast"

Sorry this picture isn't clearer, but I wanted to include an image of Germany's fondness for all things Native American.

More from Holland

2008-05-17T13:59:00.001-05:00

The pancake ship

More gnomes...why?

Kris walking along the canal

So you know I was there

The university at Groningen

That Baby Goes to Holland

2008-05-17T13:44:00.003-05:00

Here are pics from the day that we went to Groningen in The Netherlands. It is just over the border. We had lunch on the pancake-ship on the water and saw the city. No, we didn't go to the "coffee shop." We're old now, and we have kids...sorry.

That baby took a nap on the way.

Here are a couple of shots of the canal and some architecture that we saw.

House boats

A very little store

Back in Oldenburg

2008-05-12T13:29:00.002-05:00

Apparently, Hillary poses for mannequins in Germany.

We went to the huge flea market in Oldenburg. It was very sunny, and we were afraid of getting sunburned. Aggie is nursing under this wrap.

So beautiful and tired