Remember...

Been busy and need to play catch up. For now wanted to journal a few things.

Lily has slept through the night for the past 3 nights. Hooray!! Nothing feels better than getting as full night's sleep. I love it!

Alex has been cracking us up lately. Here are just of few of the things he has done/said lately that I want to remember.

The other day he told he had a problem, when I asked what it was he said "Mom, I have allot of problems." I laughed!

He has been into playing pretend lately. The other day we had to put on our imaginary hats so that the dinosaurs who were in our front room wouldn't see us. Alex was nice enough to get bananas out of the pantry and put them in the front room in case they got hungry.

He is always saying I'm joking Mom, or just kidding Mom. The one day he was walking around saying Ho, Ho, Ho. I proceeded to pretend I thought he was Santa. "Mom, it's just me I'm just kidding." What a jokester!

Another time I was upstairs getting Lily ready when I came down to find him eating a snack. We keep a child lock on our pantry for this very reason. I thought I had made sure the door was shut before leaving him alone. Sure enough it was shut in fact it was still shut just missing the lock. When I asked Alex what happened to the lock he grabbed it from a drawer saying" I needed a snack so I took it off." Then he proceeded to show me how he used a plastic kid's knife to pop off the lock. So much for that idea now.

Alex loves to fix stuff. He will go around with his gloves, tool box and belt playing Handy Manny. You will often find him fixing chairs, cracks he thinks he finds in the walls and best yet the crack he found on his Dad's butt last week. I was dying of laughter!

It's amazing how much difference a week can make

It's incredible how much one week can change everything. Last week I was so discouraged, our house had been on the market for a month with only one showing. This week our second showing has resulted in two houses under contract. If all goes smoothly we will be moving into this beauty by the beginning of September. I am so excited!!

Fingers crossed that all goes smoothly please. This buying and saleing process isn't so fun. It will be a busy month with packing, cleaning, moving and my cousin's wedding. As stressful as it may be I am excited for this new beginning for our little family. Want to come over? We plan to have lots of parties, the first being an Stampin' UP! card class, let me know if you are interested in coming.

While we were finalizing paperwork our realtor's son Bailey was nice enough to babysit Alex. It ended up being a long day with no nap. Here are the results, a first for Alex. A big thank you to all my friends/family who have been there for me this past month letting me vent and reassuring me that everything would work out. Love ya!

Ryklyn

My niece Jillian, great niece Ryklyn and her BF Andrea came down yesterday to work on Andrea's baby shower invites. While they were here we decided we would also make some flowers for headbands for Andrea's new little girl. As great as it was to see the girls I have to say Ryklyn stole the show. Poor little girl didn't want to nap in Alex' s crib so here is what happened.

Isn't she just precious?

Alex loved showing off for his cousin Ryklyn and playing with Mom's hat.

He wouldn't hold still so I could take a picture of him.

P.S. thanks for all the sweet comments about my hair. I am loving it short.

Our house at midnight

What do you do at midnight at your house? Sleep, I assume would be a top answer. At our house sometimes that is the answer however Alex's top tooth is coming in so sleep haven't been a top priority for him. Tuesday night Jason snapped these shots after Alex chased me into the kitchen. It was midnight but he seemed to be awake and fine as long as I didn't have him in his crib. Crazy kid!!

Don't mind the messy fridge, I wasn't about to spruce it up for the picture

On a side note there are a few of you who read my blog and comment. I would love to read yours and do the same however you have it marked private. Will you invite me? Jillinda, Linds, yes I'm talking to you two.

My BIL the Bishop

So I haven't had time the past few days to post. As of Sunday my Brother-in-law Mike became the Bishop of his LDS ward. It's a huge honor but also a huge responsibility for both him and his family. My sister was a little stressed with so much going on so I decided to help her out. I made brownies and two different types of cookies for the luncheon after church on Sunday. It was a good day visiting with family. Jason and I ended up staying late so he could play video games with Brax while I played ticket to ride with my sis and bil. Mike even made his special popcorn. I don't know what it is but ever since I was little I always thought Mike's popcorn was the best. Boy did it taste good!

A goofy picture from a few years back of my nephew Braxton and my brother-in-law Mike.

What has Alex been up to the past few days? Well he has developed a terrible *fake* cough. On Friday he would cough then I would then he would laugh and start all over again. Smart little kid!

He has eaten his first sweet potatoes. He isn't too found of them as you can tell. We will try a few more times and then move onto another food next week. For now he likes his cereal the most.

Can't say I blame him, I think they are pretty gross myself!

He also had his first taste of celery. He sucked on a celery stick for a few minutes Sunday before he dropped it on the floor just like everything else.

Ot oh... there goes the celery!

My nieces took him outside on Sunday and let him swing, he loved it. I can't wait until we have a yard and an outdoor swing for him.

He could have stayed in there all day, he loved it!

Hanging out with cousin Shae.Gotta love a man with a pot belly!

For the last 24 hours he has a little fussy and has hurled on himself, me and Jason multiple times. I am not sure if it's something I ate or what. He is doing a little better now so hopefully it has passed.

He has also done his fair share of sleeping the past few days including more successful naps in his crib. =) Here are a few times he wasn't in his crib.

Who doesn't enjoy a Sunday nap in their cousin's arms?

This was taken just minutes ago. Alex couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. Too bad Dad isn't really sleeping.

Tomorrow we will be prepping for Thanksgiving. If I don't have time to post let me wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving! I am so thankful to have so many amazing friends and family.

Happy 1/2 B-day Bug!

So Alex turned 6 months old today. Where has time gone? I know I should be happy but part of me is sad that he is growing up so fast. I feel like he has been in my life forever yet the other part feels like it was yesterday when we brought him home from the hospital. It's crazy!!

Anyway he has been sleeping so much better. We put him down at 9 last night. He got up one at 3:30 and again at 6 and then slept until 10:30. I loved it!! After he got up we hurried and got him ready and went to meet my friend Molly and her two little ones for lunch and shopping. Yup that's right three kids and two adults. Luckily all of the kids were pretty good today. Zupas was yummy, shopping was fun and Alex was a little angel for the few hours we were out. I am sure the sleep didn't hurt =) It was a very fun afternoon!

Jas was nice enough to pick up Chick-fil-a for dinner on his way home so I didn't have to cook.After dinner we took some pictures of Alex with his bear and some video to remember his 1/2 birthday. I had a hard time choosing just one so here are a few pictures and a little video. Happy 1/2 Birthday Buddy!

He is sitting up all by himself.

I put his arm around the bear and he left it there. You have to love that smile.

Oh I love that face, I just want to eat him up!! =o)

I love when he is this happy!!

Sleep

You never realize just how important sleep is until you don't get any. I personally have always been a sleeper. My Mom says I slept through the night on my very first night home from the hospital. I think I have been that way ever since. As a kid my mom said she always knew if I was sick because that is the only reason I would be up in the middle of the night. As a teenager I loved to stay up late reading a book, talking on the phone or chatting on the computer. I would than get to bed late and sleep in until 10ish if my Mom would let me.

Being pregnant I could never get enough sleep. I always seemed to be tired. Many nights I would eat dinner and than fall asleep on the couch for a couple of hours. Often Jason would wake me up only to tell me it was time for bed. He would have dinner put away, the kitchen cleaned and often my side of the bed all toasty warm for me. What a good hubby!! I remember telling people how tired I was. They would always say get some sleep while you can, once that baby gets here you will sleep no more. Ya right I thought!!

Oh boy were they right!!! I have never had so many sleepless nights. Comcast on demand has become a real lifesaver for late night feedings. I also have the greatest hubby ever who gets up with me at night to take care of Alex. It's become family time. I cherish the nights of chatting with Jas, snacking, watching TV, nursing one of my boys while listening to the other one snoring on me or scratching Jason's back while he puts Alex back to sleep. I know most women have the nighttime feedings by themselves. I am very lucky to have such a great husband.

Anyway as for sleep or lack there of I have been so sleep deprived since Alex was born that would wake up nightly thinking Alex was in our bed. One night I bounced my pillow as I went downstairs to get Alex. I stopped myself on the stairs wondering why I was going to get Alex if he was in my arms. Then I realized it was my pillow. Many nights I have woke Jason asking him to take Alex out of our bed. Let's just say he hasn't appreciated it.

Good news I think that time has passed. Not only have I slept great, not woken Jason up nightly thinking Alex was in our bed but I have actually been so asleep I have started dreaming again. No Alex has not slept through the night since Thursday but 7 hours in a row is pretty close and good enough for me. Last night was 7 and then 3 1/2 so I think we will shoot for that again tonight. Alex is such a happier baby when he has had enough rest.

So you might ask what has changed. Honestly I think some of it is time, him getting older and secondly we have began feeding him oatmeal before bed. I think this helps keep him fuller longer. At least it seems to be doing the trick so we will keep it up. Now as for the napping in his crib well, we are still working on it.

Here are some pictures of Alex's room for those of you who haven't seen it. These were taken before he was born so it doesn't have his rocker or a few of the pictures hung up but overall this is how it looks now. I apologize that the colors are a little off. The orangeish color is actually SU! Real Red and his walls are SU! Certainly Celery ( my favorite color)

Alex's crib

Alex's changing table and bookcase that Jason painted SU! Real Red ( Now there are wall hangings over his changing table that match his bedspread)

His name over his crib ( I have an obsession with names in print, I think because of my unique name)

Last but not least we gave in and bought bug a Jumparoo this weekend. He loves it, and I love it because it keeps him entertained. He is still pretty little so he has plenty of room to grow into it. Yes my front room is all baby, at least that is what my MIL says.

Just hanging out in my Jungle Jumparoo

Don't you love the permagrin?

Tomorrow is Halloween, Alex is going to be monkey. I plan on taking him into work to show him off to all of my old co-workers. I promise to post some pictures of my little monkey later this week. Happy Halloween Eve!

What's higher than the rafters?

So Alex took an hour nap yesterday in his crib, not bad to start with. We will be trying again today. Now for the biggie..... He slept through the night. We put him down around 10:30. He whimpered at 1 and we waited a bit but it sounded as though he was up for a feeding. When Jason when to get him he noticed that even though he was crying his eyes were still closed. He attempted ( as he has before) to get him to go back to sleep with his music mobile. Within minutes he was back to sleep. Jason said he cried again at 3 but if he did it wasn't for long because I didn't hear him. At 8:15 this morning he decided to get up. I haven't had this much sleep in months, it's awesome!! I did make Jason check on him this morning because I was too chicken to. Now if I can only get him to nap again in his crib we will be set.

It's going to be a wonderful day, I can just feel it in my rested body. Have a great weekend!

Jumping from the rafters

So for weeks I have been trying daily to get Alex to nap in his crib. It didn't matter what I tried it wasn't happening. I could put him down awake, drowsy or asleep and he would be up. Our Dr. said he really needs to be napping in his crib but I just couldn't get him to do it. Well breakthrough, as we speak he is napping in his crib. I want to scream but won't for fear of waking him. Maybe a little later I will try to snap a picture, both of his arms are over his head, it's so precious.

He has a few new tricks as well. He has learned to smack his lips. He pulls in his top lip the most. I hope to catch it on film soon. He has discovered his hands too. Well in more depth I should say. His latest is to hold his hand up in the air and move it back and forth staring contently. It's so cute. He also loves when we count to 3 and help him jump. I really think we need to buy him a jumparoo.

Cross your fingers for me that he naps for awhile and will continue to do so. Have a great day!