Xander loves music

I never share videos on here so I thought I would post some. I intend to make my kids take piano lessons someday.

My Friday the 13th morning

Warning: If you are eating something, or just can't stand stories about bodily functions..then do not continue.

Xander is almost 3 years old and in his short life so far has gotten himself into plenty of messes. The situation that happened to him and me this morning has to be at the top of the list. I can't think of too many other disgusting situations than the one that happened this morning! I was downstairs taking care of Wesley when I started hearing noises from Xander's room. I knew he was awake and probably just running around his room playing until I could go get him. I opened the door to his room and was greeted by a terrible smell. I thought he just had a messy diaper and I could change it and move on with the day. I put him on the changing table and started to pull off his pajama bottoms. They were stuck to him...and they were stuck with poo. I was pretty horrified. Not only was his diaper completely full but he one leg and both feet were covered! I tried to wipe it off, but the only thing I really could do was throw Xander in the tub. Wesley is just crawling around on the floor this whole time. The only place I could put him to get him out of the way is his new playpen. He hates that thing with a passion but I wanted him to not fall down the stairs or crawl in Xander's mess. I put him in his playpen and he clung to the side screaming his head off. So I'm dealing with poo everywhere, a messy toddler and a screaming baby. I took off the bedding on Xander's bed and on my way out stepped in some poo. I cleaned everything the best I could but I wish I would have paid more attention to how my mom cleaned. Maybe she can offer me some advice.

We are working on potty training Xander but I don't think he is ready yet. Even if he is trained I know these things can still happen. I work with blood and all kinds of human body fluids for a living, but this situation was far more disgusting than anything I have dealt with in the lab. At least most everything is contained in a tube and I get to wear a lab coat and gloves. I think what I needed in this situation was gloves and a biohazard can. I'm sure there are more fun messes like this coming my way, I do have two young kids right now. It's just interesting that it had to happen on Friday the 13th.

13 is usually a lucky number for my family. My parents were married 12/13/80. Jerry and I were married 3/13/04. Xander was born 7/13/08. I found out I was pregnant with baby #2 on 11/13/09 which was a Friday the 13th as well. I am optimistic that the rest of the day will go better. Maybe something awesome will happen later today, it is date night for Jerry and me.

Disneyland!

We flew out to Disneyland on Tuesday the 26th of April. There were a few firsts for us and our kids. It was the first plane ride for either of our kids, unless you count that I flew when I was pregnant with Xander. It was Jerry and my first plane ride dealing with very young kids. It went alright, not any worse then I would expect with a 9 month old and a 2 year old. I tried to keep Wesley asleep for most of the plane ride. The best thing for Xander was letting him watch cartoons and have snacks. That is what I would recommend to any parent traveling with a toddler.

We didn't go to Disneyland our first or even second day. We spent our 2nd day in the California adventure park. I think my favorite ride was the Hollywood tower. I didn't even know what to expect when I first rode it. It is one of those rides that drops you. I love those rides. I love the Rocket at Lagoon, which has a similar principal. My brother Michael (aka Jose) and his girlfriend Kristen came along to help us out a little. I would not have gone on this trip without help. They watched the kids a few times so we could go on rides. On our third day we spent most of the day in Disneyland. It was also my brother's birthday so we ate out at Buca di Beppo. That is a very interesting Italian restaurant. On our last day we went in between both parks and tried to go to anything we hadn't experienced yet. We flew back from sunny California to cold and snowy Utah. I can't wait for it to actually be warm here in Utah!

This trip was a little tough for baby Wesley. I think it was just overwhelming and strange. He was the biggest mommy's boy. He just wanted me to hold him all day everyday. I liked it, but it makes it hard to do anything! Right now it seems like Xander is a daddy's boy (always has been) and Wesley wants his mommy more.

Wesley turned 9 months old right before our trip. I can't believe it has been that long. I think I have some birthday planning to do very soon. He crawls and can pull himself to standing. He is super active. I took him to his checkup today and he lost instead of gained weight. His doctor was a little concerned so we had his blood drawn for some tests . I hope he is doing okay. He was really sick in March and lost weight then. I think he is having a hard time gaining it back because he is so active. He was 17lbs 5oz (down from 18lbs 2oz at 6months) and about 28inches tall. It is weird having a smaller baby since big brother was so chubby at the same age. Xander was 21lbs and I never worried about him starving. With Wesley, I am a little worried, but I hope it is normal. Worrying is just a part of being a parent!

Easter

I keep wanting to post, but I'm always so busy. I guess I haven't even posted since our wedding anniversary. These kids keep me so busy. It's a crazy life, but it's always amazing to watch how Xander and Wesley learn and grow. Wesley started army crawling around 7 months. He is kind of stuck on that right now, but he will get up on hands and knees and do a real crawl. He just turned 9 months old. He is pulling himself up on everything, he feeds himself finger food and he is the cutest babbler. I forgot how cute baby talk is. Wesley is just an adorable baby who is into everything now.

Xander is learning new words and will communicate with us, most the time. Sometimes he just gets cranky and will just whine when he wants something. I just hope he catches up with kids his age. It's hard worry about him all the time and hoping he will be able to talk and learn normally. He is a funny guy and he loves his baby brother. They are already buddies. Sometimes they will just giggle at each other while I am driving them somewhere. I hope they don't fight too much as they grow older.

For Easter, I was able to get work off Saturday and we took the kids to the grocery store. Smiths was having an Easter party, so I decided to check that out. Last year we took Xander to a hunt at the park. We were a few minutes late to that, and it was already over. At Smith's they just laid out candy in the aisles and separated the different age groups. Xander did really well and got way more candy then a 2 year old needs!

We are going to to pack up our two kids and fly out to Disneyland on Tuesday. I am nervous to travel with two kids. I know it will be tough, but I hope we have a fun time too. I need a vacation. Although my favorite vacation ever is going on a cruise. I hope to do that again soon. My next post will probably be about our trip and if we survived or not.

Seven years down...

I probably say it every time, but I can't believe it's already been seven years since Jerry and I got sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. We have been together for 8 years. We started dating in the winter of '03 and here we are 8 years later. We have two cute little kids, so now we are a little family. Baby Wesley came into our lives last summer and we are really enjoying having this sweet baby around. I think even Xander loves and enjoys having a baby brother around.

Thanks to my parents, Jerry and I were able to take a night away from the kids. We did a dinner and movie date and then spent the night at The Anniversary Inn. As much as we love our children it is important that we have some time together here and there, just to reconnect. Sometimes I don't even feel like we can have a conversation on most days because the kids need us so much. If we aren't all together we are usually at work. There just never seems to be enough time to all be together. We are still hoping to find a way for me to stay at home with the kids, but the future is so uncertain. I'm sure most families are like ours, just super busy. I just hope we don't miss out on the important things in life. I'm just glad we found each other so long ago and I think we make a good team!

Mommy brag post

Flipping the bird

Wesley will be 7 months old in a week, but I wanted to post about his 6 month stats I just haven't had time. At his 6 month checkup he was 18.1lbs and 26.5 inches long. I was surprised that he only gained a pound since his 4 month checkup. His pediatrician wasn't worried since he has been a very active baby. He was more active then Xander in my tummy and he started rolling at 4 months. Right now he can roll across the floor. He does the baby push ups like he is trying to crawl, but he's not quite there yet. He can also move himself around in a circle on the floor. We are still working on sitting up, but he just doesn't seem interested. If I sit him he tries to lunge onto the floor. I have started giving him cereal. I waited until after his 6 month checkup. We are not regular with eating though. I maybe give him cereal only a few times a week, not everyday. He seems very healthy and happy. He smiles and laughs and I enjoy being with him and caring for him. I'm sad he will not be this way for much longer. He's already changing way too fast! The only thing we really wish would change is that he would sleep better. He was sleeping all night at about 9 weeks old and was doing great until January. Now he is waking up too early, or just waking up several times in the night. I'll admit, Jerry does most the work in helping him, but we are both exhausted from the whole situation. I know Xander went through something similar at his age, so that's what I'm hoping we are dealing with and that it ends soon.

Xander is doing great as well. He hasn't had a checkup recently but he still weighs about 33lbs which was his weight at his 2 year checkup. He is about 36 inches tall. He is making some progress with his speech. He knows a lot of words and he is always imitating us. He is finally calling me mommy which makes me happy. He says I love you, "Muv woo." He is very energetic. He loves cars, Buzz and his baby brother. Sometimes he loves Wesley too much and I always have to watch that he doesn't smother him with all the hugging. We are working really hard on potty training and making some progress. He will go #1 on the potty sometimes. I would love to have one kid out of diapers. Hopefully that day will come soon.

When I am home with them I feel super busy keeping them both happy. When I work I just have to pray that they will be kept safe and happy. I have yet to find a daycare I can be completely happy with. I wont even start to write the long list of things I have been unhappy with in all the places I have tried. These two kids are a lot of work, but I look forward to the days I can just have fun with them.

Life so far in 2011

I have been wanting to post on here forever but I have been super busy lately. I just transferred to a new job in my company so I could have better hours and because I was feeling a little burned out at my current job. I gave my boss my notice in at the end of December, but they really needed me to keep working in that lab so I finally just finished my last day yesterday. In the meantime I have been working my seven on and training for a couple days on my off week, so I have been getting lots of overtime and just being too busy. I can't wait for things to settle and fall back into some sort of routine. I'll miss my old job but sometimes it's good to change things. I have been wanting to get a little more sleep. I never felt rested especially since I had to be at work at 4am. I don't think that is good for my health to keep working a schedule like that, especially with two young children. If I didn't have children to worry about and care for then I know I could find a way to get more rest on that schedule. As it is right now, Wesley has been sleeping poorly lately, which in turn causes Jerry and me to get poor sleep. I have been running on sleep deprivation for a long time now. I would love to find a way to catch up on sleep. Honestly if somebody offered me a vacation right now without my kids in tow, I would choose one where I could just relax and sleep. That would be so nice right now! I think any parent with young kids could agree with me!

January was a month of birthdays, sort of. It was Jeremiah's 31st birthday on the 30th. Both our children have their half birthdays in January. We didn't celebrate those, but it's still significant, especially when a baby reaches 6 months. They really start to change their personality. For Jerry's birthday we left the kids with my parents and we did laser tag and a movie. I had to work on his actual birthday so we did this on a different day. It's always nice to get away and be alone. Luckily we have friends and family around to watch our kids once in a while.

We have been trying to find a way to move closer to Jerry's job and possibly even downgrade our housing situation so I can be home with the kids, but the outlook doesn't look good right now. Hopefully we will find a way. I have been praying about it, but we haven't found an option yet. We can't even refinance our home right now. This market is just really tough for families like ours. In the meantime I am grateful that we do have a beautiful home to live in and we can afford our payments. I know there are people our there who find themselves all of the sudden not being able to have the money and having to lose their house. However, if one of use lost our job or couldn't work we might be in a similar situation. All we can do right now is work on paying off debts and paying our tithing and just hoping something works out. It's still my greatest dream right now to take a few years off of work to be home with my kids. I didn't realize how important that was to me until 2008 when I had Xander. I only wish I had realized this dream sooner and things might be different today. I can only count my blessings I do have right now.

I'm looking forward to a good 2011 and trying to keep my perspectives in the right place. I know there is so much I can work on, but it's just easier to do one thing at a time.