Married 6 years!

Jerry and I just celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this past weekend. I can't believe how fast 6 years goes by. It is our second anniversary as parents and we took the night off from Xander thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Batt. I hope he wasn't too much trouble for them. They were nice enough to watch him overnight last anniversary too. I know Xander has a hard time sleeping in places other then his crib which is why we have only taken two overnight trips with him since he was born. Both trips left us sleep deprived. Honestly though, I think we have been tired everyday since he was born so it's nothing new.
Our anniversary was on my seven days on, so I had to trade Saturdays at work. We didn't plan anything elaborate. We just drove to Logan and stayed at the Anniversary Inn. I think we have stayed there at least seven times now. They do have fun rooms though and it's very relaxing. It's just refreshing to know that despite being so busy all the time with work and being parents, that we are still the same couple that have been together almost seven years now and we are still best friends. Almost seven years ago while we were dating we had a talk one day about our goals and intentions with our relationship. We both agreed that we wanted our relationship to be a meaningful and long lasting relationship since our previous ones were exactly opposite. A couple weeks after that talk we decided that we would like to get married someday. This was during the spring of 2003 and we got married in the Salt Lake Temple in March 2004. We aren't perfect but I feel like we have what it takes to be happy together for many more years and hopefully to eternity, like we vowed when we were sealed in the temple.
Xander is a keeping us very busy these days. He is a sweet, loving and very energetic toddler. We still have problems with his ears. I still feel like the tubes are not helping him and am wondering if I should see a new ENT specialist. He still has yet to say no, or even mommy and daddy. He does speak his own Xander language. I'm trying to figure out how to get him evaluated by early intervention but I'm not sure where to start. At least he is happy and healthy despite his small challenges.
The big ultrasound is on the 30th of this month. I know there are rumors going around, but I will wait to announce the gender to everyone after the ultrasound. I will say that if this baby is confirmed another boy I think I'm just going to sell all my girl stuff because we will probably just be one of those all boy families. We probably just don't make girls. I will post how things go at the end of this month.

I feel spring coming

I finished up another seven days of work yesterday. As I was walking out to my car it almost felt too warm to wear my jacket. When I got in my car I actually had to take off my jacket completely and turn on the AC. It gives me hope that the weather will be warmer soon. This winter has been so gloomy. There has been lots of fog and constant gloomy skies. I am one of those people affected by the weather too. I don't feel as happy when it's so gray outside and I think I get a lot more migraines too. It also doesn't seem like we have had enough snowstorms. I can deal with the gloom better when the ground is covered in white. Right now our lawn just looks awful and dead. This spring we also need to pay somebody to fix our watering system outside. It's having issues. I can't wait for things to be green again, but I know it will take some time. It snows until June in Utah!
I know things will get harder for me as it gets warmer, but I'm still excited for sunny days and to get outside. I'm staying as active as I can with this pregnancy. I go to the gym 3-5 times a week and still do all my favorite aerobics and weight lifting classes. The last couple weeks have been bad though. I got a really bad cold where I can't breath well and I lost my voice for about 11 days. I think my voice is finally coming back. It was really hard at work though because I have to make lots of phone calls and communicate with my coworkers since we work as a team. I can't wait to feel better and go back to my workout routine.
I had another OB appointment last Tuesday, the 23rd. I was 18 weeks and we could have been able to find out the gender of our mystery baby. The baby looked great and has a heartbeat of 146bpm. They are measuring right along to come in July. We went to take a look between the legs and she/he had them crossed very tightly and was very stubborn about moving. I may go back in to the OB tomorrow just for a gender ultrasound. I'm nervous. I know I will be grateful either way, boy or girl because I know they are a blessing...but I am worried I will never have a daughter and I so badly want this baby to be a girl. I would be so thrilled to be able to unpack all the cute girl stuff I bought for Xander. I'm just scared for them to tell me, "it's a boy." I see lots of families running around with 3 or 4 boys and I just hope I was meant to have at least one girl. I'm so nervous to go this appointment.
On Wednesday of last week Jeremiah took the day off work to take Xander in for a more advanced hearing test. He has never passed a hearing test before this. It is called a sedated ABR. You have to bring your child in sleep deprived. They sedate them and hook electrodes up to them to somehow measure hearing. Making Xander sleep deprived sounded scary, but I think things went well. I don't know for sure because I was busy with work and couldn't help out. Xander passed the test, so we know his hearing works. However, he still can't hear. He has all this fluid and puss in his ears. I hope his doctor can help him. It seems like maybe the tubes are not working to drain everything. Poor little guy. He is still happy besides all of this. I think he is just used to how he hears, which must be underwater. He is not saying real words yet. He talks all day, but I think he can't hear us properly. It is hard for all of us. I hope we can get him some help so he doesn't fall behind.
He is definitely a boy. We just bought him a car set and he loves it. He has to walk around with a car in either hand all day long. He even tries to eat and drink while holding his cars. Xander, I'm not going to steal your toys!