August, September, October and November 2011

August

The month of August brought some changes to our lives. The best two changes were that we were able to move into a 3 bedroom apartment and Michael started Kindergarten. Our new apartment is so lovely! I seriously love it! We still have the boys sharing a bedroom, and the 3rd bedroom is now an office/guest room. The closet is also huge, so that has become our pantry. I need to post some pictures of our space, and maybe I'll do that someday, but you can kinda get a feel for where we are in this photo below. This was taken before we moved, and there was a HUGE rainstorm so Nathan took the boys out to splash in the puddles and listen to the thunder. I went out to take a few pictures, and didn't realize it at the time, but I was also taking a picture of where we'd be living a few weeks later! Our old apartment is behind me (you can't see it in the picture) and the new one is the apartment you see in the picture. Make sense??

We also love that Michael is in Kindergarten now!! He feels like he's finally arrived in life! He loves his backpack, and I love watching him learn and grow. I also love that he goes in the afternoon, while Xander is napping, so I get some nice alone time to relax and get some stuff done. It's really nice!

Also, Nathan's sister moved down to Rexburg in August. She got accepted into BYU-Idaho and stayed with us for a few weeks until her apartment was available. She's been a HUGE blessing for Nathan and I and our boys. We really love her and enjoy this time we're able to spend with her.

She's so fun!

And then here are just some other random pictures and a video from the month of August:

Xander and Michael both enjoy looking at books. Because we have more room, we're able to keep their bookshelves out in the living room, and it's allowed them to be more interested in reading their books! It makes me happy.

My cute Xander-Mander!
Becca has a way of doing Xander's hair that I just love! For some reason, I'm not able to duplicate it very well.
Sometimes the boys' pants get put into the wrong drawers. Usually Michael comes to me and lets me know, but this day he just went with it. Turns out, Xanders pants fit Michael in the waist, just not in the length! The horrible thing, is later in the day I forgot that Michael was wearing these pants and took him out shopping. At least it was just Walmart!
Xander has discovered how to get his way, even if we say no. This was the first time I saw him find a can of pop and a cup and pour it himself.
and then finally, a video of the boys dancing. Mainly Michael, but you can see Xander a bit as well.

September and October

As far as I remember, September was a pretty mild month. We got used to our apartment, got moved in and fairly organized.

I bought a shoe organizer for our entry closet that Xander got himself stuck in a few times.

Becca and Xander really have fun together.

Notice his cute hair style! And I love his big blue eyes!

The weather here has been AWESOME! The first part of October we spent some time outside with the camera, and I actually got a few pictures of the boys that I liked.

This looks more scary than it was. They were wrestling, and Xander was okay with it.

For Halloween Michael was a knight and Xander was a dragon. I really like to have my boys coordinate costumes!!

November

I have some videos from this month. The first week I was able to go to St. Louis Missouri for a Parents As Teachers conference, and while I was gone, Nathan stayed home with the boys. During that time, he taught the boys about Hide and Seek and tag. Xander kinda has those games confused. When we play hide and seek, he runs around the couch screaming, and then hide and seek he runs after Michael. It's hilarious! So enjoy the videos. They're kinda long, but really fun. You also get somewhat of a tour of our new apartment as I follow them through the end of the apartment trying to find Michael. Just beware---the boys' room was messy!

One day after school I let Michael have some kids over to play. For about 10 minutes they sat on the couch and watched a show on Netflix. I just thought they looked so cute sitting there all together!

Sitting next to Michael is his best friend Kyler

As I said earlier, the weather has been so great!! We've had hardly any snow and just really nice warm temperatures. That said, we have had a bit of snow here and there, and here is Xander one day just dying to go play in it! He's all dressed up in his gear.

And Xander playing on his "computer".