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!

What we have been up to lately

Now that Xander is getting older, we have been trying to take him out to some fun places. I know he still wont get much out of the experience, but the weather is nice and it is something to do together as a family. Jerry took a Friday off a couple weeks ago so we could go to the zoo. It was fun just to spend time together, since we really only get every other weekend as a family. I think Xander only liked the stuff that he could grab and he was exhausted by the end of the day. Just yesterday we decided to go to a dinosaur park up in Ogden. They had a fun playground and we let Xander ride in a swing. I think he liked it. I got him to laugh a little bit. Now as summer approaches we are trying to think of some fun stuff to do. Jerry and I were thinking of planning a road trip down to Texas. If my mom is still willing to take Xander, we were going to take a couple's vacation somewhere. It's just hard to decide where to go, but I know I would love to take a break and go somewhere new. Xander finally figured out how to crawl and he loves to move around the house and find bad things to do. We just have to be more vigilant to keep him safe. He is growing so fast! I am already in the first stages of planning his 1st birthday in July. Time flies!

ABC's

I'm just bored at home on a Friday night...

A - Age: 25
B - Bed size: queen
C - Chore you hate: dishes
D - Dogs names: no dogs, I'm not really a dog person
E - Essential to start your day: A good breakfast
F - Favorite color: Green
G - Gold or Silver: white gold
H - Height: 5'7
I - Instruments you play(ed): piano, flute, saxaphone, guitar, bass guitar, percussion
J - Job title: Medical Technologist, and mommy
K - Kid(s): Alexander Thomas
L - Living arrangements: We live in a lovely house in Kaysville
M - Mom's name: Denise
N - Nicknames: Sweety, mommy, punkin
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: none!
P - Pet Peeve: I have a few, my weirdest one is that I find it annoying when people roll down the windows of their car while driving and hang body parts out
Q - Quote from a movie: "Mawiage, mawiage is what brings us together." -The Princess Bride
R - Right or left handed: I'm a left-handed freak
T - Time you wake up: I wake up between 6-7am on my off week and 2:35am on my on week
U - Underwear: garments (LDS)
V - Vegetable you dislike: yams
W- Ways you run late: getting baby stuff together, getting distracted
X - X-rays you've had: I think I've only had 2 x-rays
Y - Yummy food you make: homeade pizza
Z - Zoo favorite: the big cats