Easter Time

We didn't do anything exciting for Easter, but at least we got to spend time as a family. The biggest problem was the lousy weather. We had some beautiful days in March, but it has been snowing, hailing and raining lately. It must be spring time for Utah. We took Xander to his first Easter Egg hunt, but didn't get to do any egg hunting. I guess there were so many people who went that it was done and over with in a few minutes. I'm sure he will get more out of the holidays next year anyway. He was probably just wondering why we were dragging him to a cold place. I probably should enjoy the comfort of this weather right now. I was pregnant two years ago and almost as far along as I am now, and I remember how I felt when it got hot outside. I couldn't wear my wedding rings or find comfortable shoes. I hope it's not as rough as it was last time I did this. The due date is still July 23rd, so I have plenty of time to suffer through the heat.

Update on our kids

You can really tell how cute this kid is going to be!










On the 30th we had the big ultrasound at 23 weeks. I think most doctor's offices do them earlier, but not the new one I go to. I get an ultrasound every time and it's a nice office but the wait time is ridiculous. I'm not sure I want to continue with my current midwife if I have to wait 1-3 hours to be seen for 5-10 minutes. It wasn't this way at all with my last midwife. Jerry and Xander both came to the appointment and I think we waited about 90 minutes to be seen. Luckily they have a big playground in a side room by the waiting room. Xander had a good time going down the slide and running around. We got to have a regular and a 4D ultrasound which turned out some really good pictures. The baby is measuring pretty close to my due date of July 23rd. They estimated them to weigh 1 pound 4 ounces which is normal. Hopefully I wont have too big of a baby. Xander was only 6lbs but he came early. Everything looks great so far. I know I'm blessed to have the chance to be a mommy to 2 healthy kids. I know not everyone gets that opportunity in life.
I took Xander in for an Early Intervention evaluation to see if he qualifies for speech therapy..and no surprise he does. The positive is that he isn't super far behind. They observed him and asked questions and none of his skills go below 18 months. He is 20 months now and born 3 weeks early, so he isn't as far behind as we thought. We still need to find a way to clear up his congestion. I'm sure he would love to breath normal someday. The tubes don't seem to be helping. The cool thing is they put his large motor skills at 24 months. It seemed like he was so slow to catch on his first year, but he is learning so quickly the last few months. He didn't walk until 14 months, but it seems like he is doing so well since those first steps. I can't wait to get him to communicate with us someday. I would love to be called mommy since I have been one for almost 2 years now.
We have less then 4 months now to prepare for a new addition...We have a room to furnish, turn Xander's room more into a toddler room and take one last big trip before we are busy with two kids. Who knows when we will have time for anything after that.

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!

Xander's first haircut

Toddler Mullet!

Sitting in the chair watching Elmo

The mullet is gone.

I'm sure other kids get their first haircut way before 19 months, but I finally gave in and took Xander today. I just remember all his hair rubbing off that he had when he was born and then he was bald for three months. When he finally got hair I was so excited. It stuck straight up in the air. Recently he has been getting sort of a toddler mullet, but I just couldn't bear to let go. It was so soft to run my fingers through and he has a slight natural curl at the ends of his hair. I kept it long, but the long hair in the back is gone.

I think Xander had a good time. I brought him to Cookie Cutters in Bountiful. I'm sure there is another kid's place closer to Kaysville, but that place just looked cute. He sat in a fire engine chair and got to watch Elmo. Then they gave him a sucker. I try not to let him have too many of those. It is so messy giving a toddler a sucker! They kept him distracted enough that we were able to get the haircut done in less then 10 minutes.

Xander is doing great, but he still hasn't passed a hearing test in his whole life. He had tubes put in to help him with fluid in his ears, but he still has a lot of stuff in his ears. It is just stressful seeing him go through this. He talks all day but he doesn't really say any words. He is a little behind in his language development and I think it is because of his ear problems. We are taking him in for a sedated ABR hearing test. I'm nervous for it, but the doctor told me it is the best way to tell if he has hearing damage or he is fine. Poor little guy. I hope we can get him hearing and talking soon. He is a great walker, he likes to imitate things and he seems really happy most of the time. He loves other kids and can be really affectionate. I just wish he wasn't having these problems, but I know things could be worse. I hope things get better in the next few months.

What's Happening in 2010

We have already made this public to family and friends so I will finally make a post on our blog. Coming in July 2010 we will be adding on to our family. For Xander's second birthday he will be getting a new baby brother or sister. I hope he wants to keep the new baby. It's exciting and scary. While nine months seems like a long time, it's also a blessing so you have time to get things in order if you need to. We have a guest room that we will be making into another baby room. We have a lot of things from Xander that we can use with the new baby so I don't think we need to buy too many things.
Things are going well so far. I'm just a couple days away from being in the second trimester. I'm still active and workout a few times a week still. I have been really tired, but it mostly just hits me at night. I'm glad Jerry is understanding. I think he remembers two years ago when I would sleep a lot in the evening too. It just really exhausts me! I have been a little sick, but it has been manageable. Smells and tastes are different and strong. I hope that goes back to normal soon. We have already seen the baby twice, once at 6 weeks and again at 10 weeks. He/she is already adorable. The first time I could hardly make anything out of the ultrasound, but the next time I saw a tiny baby with little arms and legs moving around. I'm doing my best to keep him/her comfortable. I'm sure they wont tell us the gender until February and I probably wont believe them anyway since they got it wrong with Xander.
Xander is doing great. He is 18 months old already. He walks, runs and babbles. He is communicating more but not really talking at all. I was concerned so I took him to his doctor for another checkup. He said to start him on speech therapy. I hope it helps. We haven't set anything up yet. He is doing great other then that. I'm sure the not talking is no reflection of his intelligence. With his genes, I know he will be a smart kid. He does things everyday that reflect on his intelligence. They also did his measurements and he is a really big kid! He hit a growth spurt over the past three months, so now he is actually fitting length-wise in his 2T pants. He weighs a hefty 28lbs 2oz (77%) and is 32.5 inches tall (55%). Since birth he has gained 22lbs and grown over a foot. It's like he went and swallowed anther toddler! I'm trying to teach him to walk more because it is so hard to heft him around. It's only going to get harder in the next few months so I hope I can teach him to walk and hold my hand.
We look forward to having another family member this year. I just try not to think of all the challenges it will bring to us too. I hope I can be a good mother of two and keep my kids and hubby happy.

Christmas 2009

Christmas has already come and gone. It was a fun day but also a relief to not worry about shopping anymore. Xander has been spoiled and we are happy. Now I need to think about my New Year's resolutions. I can't believe it will already be 2010 in a few short days. My life was completely different at the beginning of this decade. I was in high school and living with my family at home when 2000 started. Now in 2009 I am a college graduate, have a career, am married for almost 6 years now, have a house and became a mommy 2008. It's amazing how much can change in 10 years, especially in your 20's.

We just had a laid back Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve I made my very first ham dinner. I made so much food we should have called some people up and invited them over. I still have leftovers I'm not sure we are going to finish. It went well so I might keep that as a tradition. We then went to Temple square to see the lights. It was really cold, but there is just something beautiful about being near the temple, lights or not. It really helped me feel the true meaning of Christmas, especially seeing the beautiful Nativity scene. We put Xander to bed and then finally finished wrapping all his presents.

The next morning I got up early, not as early as when I was a child, but I guess I still feel the excitement of Christmas morning. It's not a morning to sleep in! Jerry and I opened presents before Xander woke up. I got spoiled with a new Zune, so now I'm trying to sell my old one. Jerry's big present was a toaster oven. When Xander woke up we showed him how to shred up the wrapping paper and he had a good time opening all his toys. I think it was a little overwhelming for a 17 month old, but I'm sure he loves all his new toys. I'm actually going to box up some of his old toys and save them for future siblings. He doesn't need a million toys all at once.

We had a big Christmas breakfast. We had this tradition in my family growing up, so I thought I would keep it up in my home. We then packed up and spent some time with family and exchanged presents. It was a good Holiday this year but it went by way too fast! Now I'm returning to work tomorrow and having to work through the New Year. I guess it's better then working Christmas. Happy holidays and New Year to everyone!