Big Boy Xander

Xander is turning into a Big Boy. Right now we are potty training. He is kind of getting it. He likes getting potty treats, but I think that is all he is liking about it :-). I took him to go get his flu shot and he was so brave! When it was all over he said,"I'm a strong robot!". He is doing well learning how to peddle on his new trike he got for Christmas. He is a wonderful big brother. He tells baby Liam he loves him and holds his hand. He also tells me to give baby Liam his bottles and change his diaper :-). He is very protective over Liam too. It is adorable! Xander also loves to sing. He goes into daddy's music room and sings on the microphone and plays the drums. His favorite song to sing right now is Jingle Bells. He shakes his mini tambourine and sings it with us. When he plays the drums, he likes to sing Winnie the Pooh, but he says,"Winnie A Pooh". In the car he asks daddy to sing with him to songs on the radio and even though he doesn't know the words he tries to keep up. He does the same during hymns at church. He definitely got his father's musical talent and love for music. He is going to be a very talented little boy. We are so proud of him and love his little personality. And like any other little boy, he loves to play in the mud and throw things!

Christmas Eve and Christmas!

We had a very fun Christmas this year. It was the first year that Xander understood the concept of Santa Clause. He decided to shorten it to Sanca. So every morning he would come into our room and say,"Wake up! It's Christmas morning!". It was so cute. On Christmas eve we went to Brandon's boss' home for dinner. We had a great time visiting and Xander LOVED Alma, Trish, and their elevator :-).He kept asking Alma to pick him up and carry him around. After dinner, there was a "snowball fight" that they do every year. They use marshmallows as their snowballs and split up into two teams. I wasn't able to participate cause I was holding Liam, but Xander and Brandon did. Xander was having a blast! He was throwing the marshmallows like crazy. It was probably the best night of his life cause he usually gets in trouble when he throws stuff at people, but was allowed to this time. He didn't want to stop when the fight was over. Then we came home and put the boys in their Christmas jammies and I got to open a present early(it was my new camera so i could use it in the morning). As always, I went overboard on presents for Brandon and Xander :-). Even though Liam was little, he seemed to be into it too. He just kept watching everything going on with is eyes open as wide as they would go. The Hondas came over for Christmas dinner and a game before they left for Utah. We had a great time! Brandon made prime rib roast and has decided we need to have it every year. It was a wonderful Christmas!

Liam's getting so Big!

I took Liam to his 2 month appointment and he is in the 98th percentile for height and only 55 for weight. So he is long and lean :-). I compared his numbers with Xander's at 2 months and Xander was shorter and fatter.lol. Liam is still super cute and starting to look more and more like Xander every day. He loves his big brother.Every time Xander is around, Liam just stares at him the whole time and smiles. He is super smiley and coos a lot. He has even started giggling! Liam loves to play in his gym and loves tummy time. He just started rolling over from his tummy to his back. He is already a better sleeper than his brother. Hallelujah! Liam is such a little joy to our family. I guess we will keep him ;-).

Liam's 1 week photo shoot

My sister in law came down and did beautiful pics of Liam when he was first born. Here they are!

Decorating the Tree

It was Xander's first year of helping to decorate the tree. I went out and bought a bunch of plastic decorations so that I didn't have to worry about him breaking one and hurting himself. When we were all done he stood back and said "Oh. It's so bootiful". So cute!!

Just like Mommy

I was getting us ready for church and Xander decided to put my shoes on. He was walking around in them saying "I just like mommy". So cute, but hopefully he doesn't want to be just like me when he gets older too! haha

Liam's Birth

After ending up with an emergency c-section with Xander, I was determined to have a different experience this time around. I decided to have and all natural vbac. I took classes and prepared much more than I had the first time around. My doctor wasn't very supportive towards the end and I was told I wouldn't be able to have my baby naturally. Well, I proved them wrong! This birth turned out almost exactly as planned from beginning to end and it was an amazing experience. I have never felt so proud of myself. It was probably the first goal that I have made and accomplished in a long time. It was empowering and showed me the strength within myself. I am grateful to have been able to do it.
My contractions had been off and on for over a week, so when I started to get some while at the park with Xander, I figured they would just go away too. When they didn't and became more uncomfortable I had to lure Xander back to the car with the promis of a candy treat :-). I texted Brandon before driving home to let him know I really wanted him to come home right after work and that I didn't think it was really anything to worry about. Five minutes later I changed my mind and told him to come home asap. I was so worried that it was false labor, but couldn't deal with taking care of Xander while having the contractions. It was about 3pm by then. By 4pm I told Brandon to get rid of Xander and call the doula, still thinking I wasn't really in labor, but just in case wanted to have someone with lots of experience assess the situation. When our doula, Christina, got to our house, she observed me for about 10 minutes and said, "I don't usually say this right away, but we need to leave for the hospital soon." The whole ride to the hospital all I could think was that we are going to get there and I'll only be at 2 or 3 cm. It was so hard to make it up to the labor and delivery. I had to stop every few steps for another contraction. I kept hearing Christina say to people just passing by "It's okay. She is just in labor." When we finally got there and I got all checked in it was time to find out how much hard work I had done and how much was ahead of me. When the nurse said 8 cm 100% effaced, I couldn't believe it. I was so happy. Christina was very excited too. It was perfect. Not too soon and not too late! I was able to handle the pain pretty well. The hardest part was with every contraction I had a huge wave of nausia. Also I hated the nurse poking and proding me and constantly reminding me I was high risk and that I could hemorage to death if I didn't let her. It was really annoying. Brandon and I were so happy we hired Christina. I was on the fence about it for a while, but was really glad I decided we needed the extra expertise. She made sure to do the one thing Brandon wouldn't do. Make me do something that hurt! Brandon loves me so much and hates to see me in any pain, so he would never tell me what to do if he knew it would be hard for me. Christina made me stand and squat for some contractions and I decided it was too hard and I couldn't do that anymore. But after a while of just laying there and wishing I wasn't in labor anymore, I figured the best thing to do was to listen to her and do what she says. So, I told myself to suck it up and get it over with. It worked! After doing two contractions squating, my water finally broke. Then after a short rest, I was up again and all of the sudden I felt this weird "pop" and was overcome by the urge to push. I couldn't stop it, but the nurse was telling me not to push and to "blow bubbles". After a few contractions of pushing, Liam came into the world. I couldn't believe it. I had done it! That was all I cold say over and over again."I did it." Even though I had planned and prepared, there was still the doubt that the doctors had put there that I wouldn't be able to push him out when it came time to. But I was able to and he was healthy and okay and I was okay. It was a great moment I will never forget. I never thought that doing something that women have done since the begining of time could make me feel so proud and happy and strong. Natural birth was hard, but it was worth it. Liam was born on October 12th, 2010 at 10:07pm. He weighed 8lbs. 1oz. and was 21" long. He was and is a precious addition to our family.

Happy Halloween!!

Even though Xander was getting over a virus and I had just had a baby, we couldn't skip Halloween this year. It is my favorite holiday! I just wish I had felt well enough to dress up. Oh well. At least I got Xander and Liam into costumes. Xander loved his robot costume and had a great time at our ward's Trunk or Treat. Then on halloween we decided to make home made spud nuts (it is a tradition that Brandon wanted to keep going). Xander had a lot of fun cutting out the doughnut holes. He also loved seeing all the kids in their costumes that came to our door trick or treating. All in all, it turned out to be a fun holiday. :-)

Pumpkin Patch Fun

The day before I had Liam we decided to go to the pumpkin patch. We knew we probably wouldn't make it there after the baby was born, so decided last minute to go. And we are glad we did! It is always fun and Xander seems to enjoy it more and more every year.

Fun at the Dr's Office

Xander was with me at the doctors office waiting to go in and he found a phone book. He asked me to read it to him, so I turned the pages and would point to adds and ask "what's that?". He was having a great time naming what the pictures were and then I got to the T section. There was a big add with a large truck on it and even before I could ask, Xander yelled out what it was. "Oh! A big big F*#$!". Every person in the waiting room looked at us! I was quick to say "You mean A big TRUCK" and one of the ladies said "Thats not what I heard". It was pretty embarrassing, but at least some of the other people with toddlers were giggling to themselves. :-)

Boys Rooms Decorated

Well, I finally did it! I actually got the rooms decorated for Xander and Liam. Xander's room isn't 100% done. There are still two signs I am making to hang above the cars, but it is 99.9% there! I am so grateful for Angie and Ed coming over and helping me paint Xander's room. It would have never gotten done otherwise. I think it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself :-). Liam's room turned out great too. I was also able to finish the boy's Pirate theme bathroom and the downstairs bathroom. I am so excited to have the house looking so different and decorated. It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun too. Plus, once baby Liam is here, there is no way I will be getting much done for a long time! haha

Xander Robot

Xander recently found my seaband wristbands that I bought a long time ago. He begged for me to put them on, so I did and now I can't get them off! I put them on inside out so that the pressure point tab wouldn't bug him. He has decided that they are guns and that he is "Robot Xander" and constantly runs around shooting at things. It is so stinking cute! He even sleeps with them on. Hopefully he lets me take them off soon cause they are getting so dirty and smelly. At least I know what he wants to be for Halloween this year. Today while Dad and Grandpa were moving stuff in the garage, Xander had them put on his play goggles to complete the outfit.

I LOVE THIS!

Last week almost killed us with the heat! We all just lost any appetite that we may have had. So, one day we decided to have ice cream for dinner. Xander had had a late lunch after his nap, so I knew he wasn't going to eat dinner anyway. When we told him that we were going out to dinner, he kept saying "I no want dinner". Then we got to Baskin and Robbins and his little face light up. He was so excited he was going to get an ice cream cone (it is a rare treat for him to get ice cream). After getting our ice cream and sitting down, Xander took a big bite and said "MMMMMMM! I LOVE THIS!". He kept repeating that over and over every time he took a bite. It was the cutest thing ever. I had to take a picture.