Growing too fast, can't keep up

I was inspired to lower Xander's crib mattress when I walked in after his nap and saw this:

(The cutest little toes ever!!)

 From infancy he has been a fairly immobile baby.  He was on the slower side with rolling over and, like I said in a previous post, he LOVED to lay on his back and just observe what was going on around him.  He was extremely content so that's why his mattress was on the highest level for such a long time.  It was convenient and he gave me no reason to lower it.  

Xander frequently does yoga

Anyways, we decided it was time and lowered his mattress.  Good thing too, because he was crawling everywhere within days.

And now, just weeks later, here he is, acting all big and grown up.
I was extremely surprised when I walked into his room yesterday after his nap and he was standing up!  

(You've never done that before!  Slow down, boy!)

He's so proud of himself!

His mattress is now at it's lowest setting.  I guess now that he has a taste of mobility he's just going to put his heart into it and go for it full force.  Running is just around the corner (*sniff...tear)

Xander Boy, You Are Loved

Last Thursday (Jan. 19) Xander turned 10 months.  I've been told time and again that the third one's the hardest. Apparently if you can survive three you can survive ten.  I don't know if the third time is just the charm for us or if it's because it's been so long since we've had a baby in the house, but three for me has been wonderful.  Don't get me wrong, I love all my children equally, and love and severely miss their babyhood, but with Xander I feel so much more relaxed and able to stay calm, enabling me to enjoy more, laugh more, absorb more.  Maybe that just comes with experience, or maybe it's because I now know what it really feels like to have children grow up so shockingly fast.   Either way, I just can't get enough of that sweet boy, and his babyhood is already slipping through my fingers and I can't do a dang thing about it.   Some days I resent my pathetically human brain that just cannot hang on to those precious moments for very long, hence the reason that I have tens of thousands of pictures saved on my computer, and even more that were taken back in the dark ages of film.  

In my attempts to capture every stinking single moment, here are some highlights of the past few days of loving on my baby.   And it's not just me.  Jack, Jace, and Jess (say that 10 times......) dote on him every moment that I'm not.  That poor baby just doesn't know what it's like NOT be held, loved, googoo and gaga-ed at, and kissed at every waking moment.  

He and Jayci, watching a movie together

The look on Jack's face says it all.  Such a proud "big brother" moment!

Showing him how to reverse the way daddy does :)

Xander's head kept jerking around so Jack drove like this, one handed,  for the rest of the ride

So sweet.  So precious.

And to prove that I love all my children equally, here's what Jack, Jayci, and I did while Xander napped today.

And just because, here's a bunch of pictures taken the day Xander got his 9 month shots. 

 I'm obsessed.

Jack cannot keep his eyes open when there's a flash!

Xander boy, at 10 months old you:

-Crawl everywhere!  You demonstrated not only how quickly you can get to the stairs, but also how quickly you can go down them!  We got a baby gate installed shortly after.

-Still giggle when you get your bum wiped, but don't love being on your changing table very much anymore.  You definitely put up a fight when we lay you down to change your diaper (but then pause to giggle when you're getting wiped, then continue on with the fighting).  Or to dress you. 

-Clap when we say, "yayyyy!"

-Wave hi and bye-bye

Are becoming a picky eater.   You used to eat about anything I offered, but now it's basically fruit only (sometimes carrots, squash, or sweet potatoes, but no greens!), baby yogurt, rice or oatmeal cereal mixed with fruit or juice.  Nothing with weird textures.  You have a very strong gag reflex and gag if you don't like something.  It's actually quite hilarious.

-Haven't been sleeping very well.  We did sleep training a few weeks ago.  You cried for 4 nights and then slept all night.  The next night you got sick.  So here we are, starting all over with sleep training now that you are finally better.  

-Love mama!  You giggle when you see me, and even will spit out your binky if you have one and try to eat my shoulder.  

-Still nurse like a champ and prefer this food over any.

-Still will kick your legs and flail your arms simultaneously super fast, like you are doing some crazy ab workout. 

-Babble dadadadada (sometimes you do it in a really high voice and end the last syllable even higher, like you're asking a question. It's super cute!), and copy sounds we made. And you like to spit.  The kids think it's hilarious.

-Still have no signs of teeth.  Fine by me, keep em in!

-Innocently tease Moe, grab his ears, fur, tail, whack him in the face, basically drive him nuts.   He's almost attacked you back a few times, but thinks better about it, probably because he knows the wrath he'll feel if he does.  

-Love binkies, but not when I try to put them in your mouth to soothe you at night without picking you up.  You'll take it out and throw it and scream, but if I pick you up and give it to you you love it again.  Stinker.

-Are growing very attached to your thin swaddling blankets.

-Are the most loved baby in the world!

Oh, Hello!

We've had several little hiccups with technology these past few months.  Our little dinosaur computer (wonderful because it was free and held up for as long as it did) finally bit the dust.  We had my awesome brother Jake over for hours, trying all that he could to keep it alive, but lo and behold, it was it's time.  Which ended up being a good thing because now we have this awesome 27" Mac that I found on ksl and got a really good deal on (and btw, did you know that 27" is HUGE?!?  I didn't....until I went to pick it up from the nice guy selling it, saw it on his desk and thought it was a tv, and laughed when he said, "well, this is it!"  Our computer desk looks a whole lot smaller now!)

And then, as user friendly as mac's claim to be, we couldn't figure it out!  (We are pretty much technologically stunted).  SO, after a couple of months of "messing around" with it we had my awesome friend's mac-genious husband come and orient us.  (Thanks guys, pick a night, and Thai's on us!  Seriously.)  And voila!  Here we are!  Well, just me.  Here I am!

Today just happens to be mine and Jesse's 8th wedding anniversary, so as far as catching up goes, I'll start right here.  Since it is Sunday Jess and I celebrated our anniversary yesterday.   Jess started the morning with a ward service project while I curled my hair (a rare treat for Jess, I don't do it very often because, well, a pony tail is much faster).  While Jess was gone our friends came and showed us the ropes on this beast, then we dropped the chillins off with Jess's parents for the rest of the day (and night, for Jack and Jayci).

We saw Mission Impossible (3? 4?) and then stopped back home to check 'Fleming's' website.  It's a fancy restaurant in Salt Lake that we were going to try.  We've NEVER eaten fancy before (we are ok with that) but thought it would be fun since we had a gift card.   I looked online for a number so we could call and get ourselves on a list (like I said, we've never eaten at a fancy place before!) but discovered it was a "reservation only" restaurant and they were booked until after 8.  It was only five and we didn't want to wait that long or drive home from Salt Lake that late so we just went to Macaroni Grill instead and were perfectly happy with our choice because, even though their menu changed and we don't really like their entrees, their bread and desserts are some of our favorites!  (Lemon Passion cake. nuff said.)

After dinner I actually heard these words come out of Jess's mouth.  "Let's go buy you some clothes."  Seriously! I couldn't stop smiling!  I really want/need boots or winter shoes (I was wearing flats without socks, snow and slush were getting in my shoes and my feet were freezing all night!) so we started at shoe stores, but gave up because nobody carries size 11.  On a whim we (I, he just followed) went into a small store because I saw some cute shirts on a mannequin in the window.  They were strict about their "6 items in a dressing room" rule, and Jess was quite the enforcer.  In the end I had too many things I liked (rare for me, that's why I hate shopping) so I asked him to help me narrow it down.  He asked, "Do you like them all?" "Yes." So he grabbed the pile, took it to the cashier and bought them.   Seriously!!  And he was proud of himself because the shirt and skirt that ended up being my favorite were ones that he had picked out and asked me to try on.    I felt guilty/giddy all the way home.  Guilty because I always feel buyer's remorse after I buy stuff, even if it's my husband buying it for me, and also because we said we weren't doing gifts this year and I didn't get him anything, and giddy because......new clothes.

We picked up baby boy, went home, put Xander to bed, and.............watched a movie.  (You know you are old, tired, parents when the thing that sounds the most exciting when the kids are gone is to lay in bed and watch a movie! )

Jess is my everything.  I can honestly say that after eight years of marriage we are stronger, closer, happier, and more content with our lives than ever before.  We are each other's best friends (with great benefits :).  I know that he brings out my best qualities and I hope that he feels the same about me.  He has always treated me and our children with love and respect, and ALWAYS puts us first.  We are always his top priority, and we know this because, through his actions he's constantly showing us.

And since I'm terrible at taking pictures of the two of us and don't have any from yesterday or today, here's some oldies but goodies.