Memorial Day 2009

What a difference a year can make! We went to the lake again this year for Memorial Day, but it was WAY more fun this time because the kids weren't afraid of the sand! (They freaked out last year...didn't want the sand to touch them...wouldn't even get near the water...we left early....I blogged about the whole experience last May if you want to check it out.)

I came prepared with water shoes this year, but they didn't even need them. They kicked them off after only a few minutes and dove right in. They loved playing in the sand and swimming in the lake. Jason and I had a blast too. We love being with our friends and having fun with the kids. The barbecue was tasty too! What a great day.

It's fun to watch them play together. They were chasing each other, splashing around, and just being silly.

They were touching the sand (and rolling in it and throwing it and shoveling it and squishing it between their toes)....on purpose....and liking it!

Corbin kept piling the muddy sand on his toes as thick as he could. Then he'd run to the water and say "See, it comes right off!" Then he started burying my feet too. He got a kick out of that.

Those aren't freckles. It's sand all over his face and in his hair.

Tressa's favorite thing was swimming with her floaty ring.


Xander was such a good baby. He was content and happy the whole time even though he couldn't participate much.



We can't wait to go back!

New Park

It really felt like summer yesterday...no more rain! We had a fun evening with the kids at a new park here in town. It was really nicely laid out and had some unique playground equipment. (It has a neat water playground too, but it wasn't working when we were there.) The weather was so beautiful yesterday. It was the perfect day for the park. We brought a picnic and enjoyed the view of the river and then the kids played their little hearts out. Here are some pictures of the fun time we had.



Hooray for Summertime!

No Sleep!

We aren't getting much sleep around here lately...and it's not because we have a new baby. Xander is already sleeping through the night most of the time. It's Corbin that's getting us up every night. What am I going to do with this boy?!

"Me not tired Mommy...me not need a nap..." Here he is a few hours later.


And here's how I found him one morning. Jason was so tired from the long night with Corbin (which eventually ended in Jason giving up and putting a video on) that he didn't even wake up to repeated kicks in the face from Corbin.


Ugh!!!

Smiles!

Xander turned 2 months old on May 9th. Now I can start counting in months instead of weeks! I can't believe how fast the time goes. He is now 11 lbs 11 oz. and 23 1/2 inches long. He's right in the middle on the growth charts and is following the curve almost exactly. The doctor says he's a machine! He is such a good baby...the past two months have been so fun! One of my favorite milestones in a baby's development is when they learn to smile and coo. It's so rewarding to watch that big toothless smile stretch across their face. Xander's first real smile was probably at 5 or 6 weeks, but it was pretty difficult to catch on camera. It was hysterical to watch the smile develop. First you'd see it in his eyes, then he'd contort his mouth in every possible way, and finally he'd get the right muscles working and a full smile would appear. His smiles are getting a lot more efficient now and he coos a lot too, but I thought this series of photos was so cute because it shows the progression from the closed mouth crooked grin to the open mouth lip curl to the full on smile. What a cutie.








He's pretty dang cute when he's not smiling too.



I even love his sad face. Look at that little pouty lip!

First Trip to the ER

On Friday evening when Jason got home from work he found me in our room changing Xander's diaper. He was giving me a rundown of his day when we suddenly heard a loud thud followed by a screeching cry coming from the living room. I immediately felt the panic in my chest...it was a cry like I've never heard before. So I knew it wasn't just the usual bump or bruise or 'he took my toy' scenario. I rushed in to see Tressa bent over on the floor next to the coffee table holding her eye. She had been running around the living room pretending to ride a two-wheeler and tripped head first into the corner of the coffee table. We were so lucky that she didn't hit her eye, but there was quite a gouge on her forehead. I hope it doesn't leave a scar on her pretty little face!



We are kind of surprised that Corbin wasn't the first to go to the ER, since he's a lot more careless. And that dang coffee table made it through all their years of learning to walk without being a problem! Now I'm thinking maybe I should get rid of it. The ER doctor told us 3 patients had already been in that day for collisions with the coffee table.


Tressa was pretty panicked at the thought of getting stitches at first. I just held her and told her it would be okay. She's the type that likes to know details. She wanted to know what was going to happen. So I told her it would be like a special date with Mommy. We would get to go to the hospital together and we'd probably have some time to snuggle and watch a video in the waiting room before the doctor took a look at her cut. I told her I wasn't sure if he would need to stitch it up or not, but that he would know how to fix it. I told her that the doctor would be gentle and would numb her owie so that it wouldn't hurt if he had to stitch it up. She brought her favorite blanket to help her feel better.


Things went pretty much according to plan and she was calm the whole time. Even joking around and laughing at times. The cut was straight enough that the Doctor thought Dermabond (basically superglue) would do the trick. He put some numbing gel on the wound, pinched the skin back together and applied the glue. Afterward he told her what a good patient she was and gave her a popsicle. She thought it was the greatest thing in the world! All better.




Jason and I were hoping to be able to use this incident as leverage with the kids whenever they get rowdy..."Don't jump on the couch please, you don't want to crack your head open again" or "No running please, you don't want to have to go the emergency room like Sissy did." But she had such a good time at the hospital that I almost think she wouldn't mind going back! What a trooper.

Xander's Blessing

Xander was blessed on Sunday (May 3rd) by his Daddy.

It was a beautiful blessing and despite the fact that I was wrestling the other two kids during the whole thing, I could really feel the spirit.

Xander is such a sweet special baby. Jason said he was cooing during the whole blessing...so cute. I can't wait to watch his life unfold. I feel blessed to be his mother.

My parents joined us for this special occasion, which I really appreciated. It's times like these that it's really hard being away from family. It was really nice to have their love and support.

It was my Dad's first time meeting Xander. Him and my Mom took turns holding him all weekend long. And they still managed to spend some quality time with Tressa and Corbin too. At lunch on Sunday a few hours before they had to leave Corbin looked up at us with those puppy dog eyes and said "I ho horry Gamma and Gampa hab to go home!" It was really sweet and heartfelt. It's so neat that my kids are so close to their grandparents (on both sides) even though they live far away.

After lunch we got on the computer and found blessing pictures from Tressa's and Corbin's blessings. It was really fun remembering those events and comparing pictures. I was surprised at how much all three of them looked alike at this age. They are each about 2 months old in these pictures. You can definitely tell they are siblings at least.

Tressa, February 2005

Corbin, October 2006

Xander, May 2009

It was such a good day, but it was hard to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. We love you guys! Thanks for celebrating this special occasion with us.