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.

Xander video and other stuff

Not too much is going on with our family except that my little brother is getting married in December. Xander will be getting a new Aunt. Our family has almost doubled in size in the last few years. My sister and I both got married and then came Xander and now I will be getting a sister-in-law. It should be fun. I love weddings. However, they picked the craziest time of the year to get hitched, December 19th! I'm sure we will survive that month somehow. Then everyone except me will have gotten married in December. My parents anniversary is 12/13 and Sarah and Chris' anniversary is 12/21. I always have to be the non-conformist. Jerry and I got married 3/13. I'm glad there will be another temple marriage in the family. My parents had a civil ceremony and didn't get sealed until after Sarah was born. Sarah and Chris didn't get married in the temple either. My brother and I will both have temple marriages from the start. I think that builds a very important foundation for a new family. I'm so grateful that I am sealed to Jeremiah and Xander. Here is a video I have been wanting to post on this blog for a while.

Our first trip away from Xander

Well it was our first trip and who knows when we will get another one. It's not that we want to leave our little guy, but it was fun to just be us again. We were married almost 4.5 years before Xander came into our lives. Sometimes I miss how things were but I am glad to be a mom and have a sweet little guy that makes me laugh. My family was sweet enough to give Xander the care and love he needed while we went away. Xander stayed with my sister for one night and then my mom had him for the rest of the time. As far as I know, he didn't give them too much trouble.
We flew out to Chicago and got a rental car. It was kind of nerve wracking because our plane was scheduled to land at 9pm and the rental place was closing at 10. Our plane arrived a little late and we were stressing about getting our car. We just barely got it on time and were on our way to Gurnee, Illinois. What is there to do in Gurnee? Six Flags Great America. Although we are getting into our late 20's we are still kids and love to play. We had an awesome time going on some intense and long rollercoasters. Lagoon has nothing on Six Flags.
The next day we drove into Chicago to see the sights. We went up the Willis tower and got to stand in a box made entirely of glass and stand over the city. It was an awesome view. Chicago is a cool city. I wish we had had more time to do some exploring. We then drove took a 3 hour drive to Wisconsin Dells. This place was a surprise to us. We came to go to Noah's Ark, America's largest waterpark. It turns out that this place is the waterpark capital of the world and a big tourist town. There were so many cool things to do and see in Wisconsin Dells, we wish we could go back someday. We went to the waterpark and had a blast. I think I love waterparks more then amusement parks. We then went to a really cool waterskii stunt show to end our day. Our only trip regret...not enough time to do everything we wanted to.
We then had to drive all the way back to Chicago to get on a plane back to reality. We missed our little boy, but he did great with my familiy. Our trip was so fun. I'm glad to see that despite all the stresses parenting can add to a marriage, I still feel just as close to Jeremiah as before. We are still best friends and love to have a good time together. I am excited for Xander and his future siblings to grow so we can do all these fun things as a family.

Better Late then never Birthday Pictures

It's been over a week now since we celebrated Xander's 1st birthday, but I still wanted to share some pictures on our blog. It was a fun and crazy day. I know we wore our little guy out. My baby is 12 months old now! He is still not walking, but he is all over the place so I know it will be any day now. I'm glad we are not up 4-6 times a night feeding him and being worn out, but I am still sad he is growing so fast. I miss how sweet and small he once was. I see really young babies and just can't believe he was that small. He is so big now, weighing in at 23 pounds, that I can't remember holding him when he only weighed 5 pounds. He's healthy and happy and we enjoy having him in our lives. We celebrated his birthday at Cherry Hill here in Kaysville. I put a lot into this party, but I think we were not only celebrating Xander, but the fact that we made it 1 year as parents. Being a parent adds some much more into life. It's weird to imagine that I once lived a life without Jeremiah and Xander in it.

Happy Birthday Xander!

Wow, I can't believe it has already been a year! Your mommy and daddy love you more then you can comprehend right now. You have put up with us not knowing what you want, when you need your bottle or when you just need a hug. We have done our best and seen so many beautiful smiles. I remember how excited I was the first time I saw that smile and the first time I heard that laugh. It made me feel like I was finally doing something right. We have been through many rough nights and held you while you cried. I just love seeing your beautiful face and hearing you laugh while we play. I want to hold your hand and help you grow into a wonderful person. It just feels like yesterday that we brought you home from the hospital and now we are chasing you around as you crawl. I can't wait to see you take your first steps.

It's been a little while since I posted on here. Life is really busy as usual. We are currently getting ready for one of the biggest events of this year...Xander's 1st birthday. I am so glad that he has made it this far with my mothering or lack of mothering skills. I do the best I can everyday to make him happy and keep him healthy. He is doing awesome except for his allergies. I hope they will clear up for him someday! Poor little guy! It's amazing that it has been almost a year since we brought our sweet bundle home and now he is a mobile 11 month old. He crawls and stands up on everything now. With his new found mobility come the bruises, bumps and scrapes. It's hard for me to see all his little battle scars and not feel bad. With crawling comes rug burn. I found these adorable little leg warmers called Baby Legs that I make him wear just about everyday. It helped clear up the redness on his knees. I don't know how to protect him from the bruises and bumps, except to just wrap him in bubble wrap, or place him in a giant bubble. Yesterday he was crawling around in our kitchen that has hard wood floors. I'm not sure if he is learning to stand on his own, or what he was doing, but he decided to straighten out his legs. He quickly went down in a face plant and bruised up his forehead immediately. It was hard to hear him crying in pain, and I almost started crying. Becoming a mother has made me more emotional.

A year ago, Jerry and I were just awaiting the big day when our baby would come into the world. I was buying girl clothes and decorating a cute ladybug girl nursery. At this point last year I wasn't too uncomfortable yet. It wasn't until the 4th of July weekend last year that I started swelling up and getting itchy. I just can't believe that was a year ago. I can't believe my baby will be a toddler soon. Xander is our life right now. We love to see his cute little smile and to make him laugh. Life would be less full without him in it. We are so grateful he has blessed our lives!