July 2011

I'm slowly doing it! I'm getting caught up. I can hardly believe it!

Our July was pretty much like our June and May. Just a lot of questions about Michael and not much else going on, that I can remember anyway, other than the 4th of July.

For the 4th, we had Nathan's cousin and wife, Ben and Chelsea, come down from Canada with their 3 kids. We, of course, had a blast! I always enjoy our visits with them, but they're never long enough! We had a fun day that started with the parade on Main Street. Then we went home, attempted naps for the boys, did some shopping and cooking, and then took off for Idaho Falls to wait and wait and wait for the fireworks and then came home. So the typical 4th of July. It was fun, but I wish we would have just stayed at our place and not gone down. It would have been way less stressful for everyone involved and probably more...enjoyable/memorable. Next time!

Michael waving the flag with so much enthusiasm it hardly shows on the camera!Xander holding a gun and sporting the awesome USA headbandBen and Chelsea's adorable, but massive, little Levi. I think at the time he was 9 months old?? He just had his first birthday a few days ago!!! I'm not sure he knows what to do with himself in all the red, white, and blue. He's a canadian!
But he soon warmed up to the idea that it's not so bad after all! Or maybe he's just trying to show 'USA' whose boss?
Xander spent a lot of the time we were in Idaho Falls hanging out in the stroller. He didn't mind it too much and enjoyed people watching, while we didn't have to worry about him wandering off and getting into trouble! It was a win-win!And that was about as exciting as our July got!
Xander got into some sugar.... He enjoyed it!
He also started climbing....The boys started playing together more and Michael started making goofy faces for the camera. And then I had a little photo-shoot with Xander in a box!He's so stinkin' adorable!!!!!!!!Here's a quick video of Xander. He's an incredibly picky eater, and the faces he makes can sometimes just be priceless! There's really no question what he's thinking most of the time!Good thing he's so sweet, as well!!

May and June 2011

Here are some pictures of our lives from May and June.
On May 13, we hopped on a plane and flew to California! About 4 weeks (probably more, actually) I got a phone call from my dad saying that he had been asked to serve in our ward as the bishop! I was pleasently surprised and we made plans for our trip down to california.
Here's a funny little tangent about an experience I had the week before my dad called me. I was working and at a home visit with a family and we were talking about her planning a trip home to see her family and all the stuff that goes into preparing to go on an airplane with little kids. Suddenly, I just got a feeling that we were going to be going on a similar trip home to see my family! It was wierd, but I brushed it aside not thinking anything about it, because we weren't planning any trips at the time. Then later in the week my dad called me and told me the news! It was pretty cool.
So the trip was short and fast, but so fun! It was great to see some cousins I hadn't seen in a long time, as well as some Aunts and Uncles. It was fun to let my family see my kids and to have us all together for such a short time!
As far as I remember (this was, sadly, 5 months ago), the plane rides went really well. We had the usual snacks and activities to keep the boys entertained. One of the snacks were pull-and-peel licorice. Xander and Nathan had fun with that:

I love his puffy cheeks here!

Do you wanna hear another fun story? Of course you do, right, otherwise you wouldn't be here! In the weeks leading up to Xander's birth, I was understandably concerned and a bit freaked out about having another baby, and was worried about his health and blah, blah, blah...everything you worry about! So I asked Nathan to give me a few priesthood blessings to help give me some comfort. He did so, and it was just so interesting, because in those blessings, I was told that Xander would be just fine and healthy, and that he would bring lots of laughter into our home. I remember thinking that was an interesting thing to hear in a blessing, and Nathan and I discussed it lots. But what's been even more interesting, is the fact that Xander really is just FUNNY! He makes all of us laugh a couple times a day! Whether it's by the things he says or the things he does, and especially when he's throwing his tantrums. He's just plain funny!

Here he is on one of those funny days! I think he was trying to take off his shirt, and it got stuck. He now does this regularly just to get laughs, but this day he was really frustrated!

Michael and Xander fight a lot, but they really are good friends. Xander really enjoys following Michael around and frequently copies the things he does and enjoys being Michael's little shadow.June

Here is Xander in the crib again about a month later. At this time, he was really interested in dressing himself. The problem was, he didn't realize what went were, so he was trying to put his shirt on his legs. Michael thought it was hilarious!Oh My Gosh--To say that Xander had a shoe fascination in the month of June would be an understatement! He. Was. ObSESSed! If he saw a shoe laying on the ground, he would pick it up and bring it to you!

It didn't matter if the shoes matched or not, or even if the shoe wasn't yours! It was lose, and that just wasn't acceptable! Also, if he noticed that someone wasn't wearing shoes at all, he would go on a mad hunt to find the shoes and return them to the owners! Thankfully now he's consumed in putting the shoes away! I like that obsession a whole lot more!

If this picture wasn't so blurry, I'd love it!

Michael and Xander also liked to play Ring Around The Rosy. I have a video to upload, and I plan on doing that as soon as I can! It's pretty fun.

Nathan also randomly had flowers delivered to me in June!

And Michael insisted it was cold...in June....

My studdly Xander...

and my handsome Michael.

Xander's First Trip to the Dentist

On April 12, 2011 we took both boys to the dentist

The waiting room is awesome! There's a tree house play structure with a slide and toys for the kids to play with. The walls are all painted lime green and it's just a really fun atmosphere.

Here are the boys playing, Xander having NO idea what's about to happen.....

We let Michael go first with the hygienist, and Xander payed close attentionThen it was his turn with the hygienistHe was NOT impressed!

Then Michael met with the dentistAnd Xander got increasingly more cautiousThen Xander's turnI think you can tell just how well that was recieved!

But we all made it through it and their teeth look good and healthy!

That month we also got Xander into speech therapy. I knew he was still young, but I regret that we didn't Michael into speech earlier than we did, and I didn't want to regret it with Xander. So we got him evaluated and he qualified (but just barely) and has been seeing the same speech pathologist as Michael about 3 times a month. And if you see the side bar, his speech has ExPLODeD!