Our baby is walking

I'm a proud parent, but sad at the same time. Xander has hit the milestone that I consider the difference between a baby and a toddler. Babies crawl and roll, but toddlers walk. For the last couple months Xander has mastered cruising and pushing his toys all over the room. One day he was playing with his car and I looked over at him. He just let go and took four steps forward. Soon he was taking steps, but falling a lot. Within a couple weeks he can walk all the way across the room and he can stand himself back up without support every time he falls. Now I will have to start buying him functional shoes instead of the cute booties that babies wear just for looks. I know that children grow too fast, but it is just crazy watching your own child hit their milestones. Now we need to get him talking next. He seems to be a little behind since he doesn't even say mommy or daddy yet. I just don't feel like I can call my first baby a baby anymore.

I love this season

Xander at 3 months old, Halloween 2008

Hanging at the beach in Pineview

I'm getting so excited for Halloween this year. I don't think it's the actual day that I get worked up for, just the whole season itself. I love being scared by watching scary movies and going to spook alleys. I have been going to spook alleys for as long as I remember. I love dressing up scary. I know some people dress up like clowns and princesses but I think Halloween is a day to dress up like something creepy. My excitement began at the end of August when I walked into a craft store and already saw fall decorations. Now I have been obsessed with going to stores and looking in the holiday section and debating on how much I should spend on decorations. So far I have purchased a small black Halloween tree and some decorations. I'm still looking for some Nightmare Before Christmas ornaments to add to my tree. I am also hoping to add something awesome to the outside of my house. We already have some cool outside decorations and apparently our house has a reputation to uphold on Halloween night. Xander will be 15 months old and I think he is old enough to do some Trick or Treating. I am hoping he will be walking by then. We have a monkey costume for him this year. Last year he was a dragon and we just put on the costume for 15 minutes for pictures. I am excited to start decorating my house. Yay for fall!

Xander is getting close to walking. I see him standing more and more on his own. He loves to walk around our living room and kitchen with anything that he can push. He will sometimes be standing on his own and take one step, but then he will immediately go down on his knees and crawl. He is getting so fast at cruising and crawling. He has so much energy! I'm excited to see those first steps. I think it is coming soon.

I love boating

Crawling around the boat
Hanging out with Grandpa

Xander and Mommy

Me waterskiing

My parents wanted to wait until my siblings and I were a little older to purchase a boat. I was 14 when they bought a 1970's Apollo. I was so excited to try out some water sports. I got tubing down right away but mastering the knee board or skis took me a bit longer. By the next summer I was up on the knee board and having a good time. I tried to pick up water skiing next, but that requires more strength from the skier and from the boat's engine. I was strong enough but the boat ended up being a lemon. I was so sad, and I think I even shed some tears when we discovered that this boat was almost beyond or even worth fixing. It was old and just not well taken care of by the previous owners. We were able to sell it to a new owner who was willing to invest time and money to get it running again. After a few weeks of searching we finally found the perfect boat, a '97 Reinell. It had a little cuddy in the front which is perfect for Lake Powell beach camping. It was large enough for our family of five and a lot newer then the Apollo. I mastered water skiing, slalom skiing and wake boarding and I still love them. I don't do any tricks, but I love being behind the boat. I have a lot of great memories of boating. We spent tons of time down at Lake Powell. That boat survived a couple infamous storms at Lake Powell. I awoke to one of those storms to see the boat top coming down on top of me because the wind was so powerful it bent the poles. With the exception of my sister, we all shared a love for boating. Now my parents have moved from Price and have a house at Bear Lake. That is where I have been boating for the past couple years.
Our boat is still going strong. I know it is my parents boat, but they technically share it with their now grown up kids. I love boating so much, I even went when Xander was just 6 weeks old and I was still doing some postpartum recuperating. On September 1st I took Xander on his second boating trip. He went on his first trip in June. I think he likes boating. I can't wait to buy him a pair of training skis and watch him enjoy a piece of my childhood. I hope Jerry and I can buy a boat of our own someday and enjoy water sports with our kids. Jerry does a little water skiing and I hope I can get him to love boating more. I miss going to Lake Powell. I was 18 the last time I went and I hope I can make it back down there soon.
On my previous post I was talking about my brother Michael's engagement. For reasons unknown to me, the engagement is off for now. I was hoping to be friends with his fiancee, but things seem to be strange between us. Maybe someday I will get a sister-in-law. Someday Xander will have cousins, but they may be a lot younger then him.