Table For Three!

Today is THURSDAY....

2011-01-21T00:01:00.001-06:00

not Friday. You wanna know how I know this? Well, let me tell you. It's not because I have a calendar...or three through out the house. Nope. It's not because I was watching the news this evening and they said, "good evening, this is Thursday, January 20th...." no. It's not even because I wrote the date out, 1/20/11 no less than 20 times today. nuh uh. Those are all NOT the reason why I know that today is Thursday and NOT Friday.

I know because I dressed my child in his pajamas, tried to get shoes on his feet...but they didn't fit because he was wearing footie pjs, bundled him up in a hat, scarf, coat, mittens and a blanket, bundled myself up much the same way, sans blanket and then I carried said child out to the car, put him in his car seat, wrapped him up in the blanket and drove across town to Barnes & Noble for Story time with Clifford. I got there and parked and while attempting to get my child out of his car seat (he had fallen asleep) I leaned on my keys and accidentally pressed the panic button so the car horn is honking (child is no longer asleep) and in my attempt to shut the car up, I opened the back hatch window, locked the car, unlocked the car...all while the car is still honking, because I have no idea how to stop the honking....first time this has happened with this car...finally found the button that makes it stop...who would have thought....the panic button is also the button that stops the panic! LOL
OK, so I carry my 40 pound shoe-less child through the parking lot...did I mention it is 8* out tonight? Get him inside...barely....before dropping him and take off his mittens, his hat, his scarf, his coat...then mine...head back to the kids section....there is hardly anyone there! I'm shocked! Only one little boy playing with the trains. Odd. I thought this place would be CRAWLING with big people and little people. Mostly little people with a big person. But there wasn't! None of this has clued me into the fact that I have the day wrong. No.... I even called my husband because I couldn't believe he wasn't there yet....UGH! He was late!
After playing with the trains for 20 min. I look at the time and notice that Clifford is nowhere to be found. I finally pull my child away from the train table so I can go to the info desk and ask why nobody, including Clifford, isn't here for the Clifford Story time pajama party. How could I be the only one on time for this??? Well, let's see....that would be because it is Thursday and the Clifford event is actually tomorrow...FRIDAY! DUH! I mean, what is the matter with me??? I have it marked on my calendars...all three of them....that it's on FRIDAY. Why did I think today was Friday? I have no idea.
Sooooo....I have to break it to my child that Mommy got it wrong....and we need to go home and come back tomorrow night. That went over like a brick, as you can imagine. I call my husband and un-yell at him and tell him to just meet us at home. Then I bundle up the kid, and myself...and I carry him back through the 8* parkinglot and get him in the car....barely....before I drop him into the car...get him buckled in, bundled up with the blanket, and drove home....all with a 3 yr old asking if it's tomorrow yet. Over and over and over.
I am the special kind of smart that they reserve the short bus for.

What you dooey-en ???

2010-08-02T15:20:00.006-05:00

That's how Xander asks "what are you doing?" We don't know why. But it's cute. So here is what we have been "dooey-en" since my last post.

~We have set up bird feeders around the back yard. One of them is even home made! We have 3 different Cardinal couples that frequent our outdoor dining spots. We also have seen a blue-jay a few times as well as some orioles. Most of the birds though are rosey finches, house sparrows, mourning doves and of course the grackles and brown-headed cow birds. We also have a squirrel diner and a cute little family with two new youngsters. They are so fun to watch. Oh, and don't forget about the "Easter" bunnies that stop by....and now there are two baby bunnies! The new binoculars that Tracy got me for Mother's Day are being used several times a day, as well as the bird books that help me to identify the birds. It's my new hobby. :)
(I have more pics and will post soon)

~I have hosted a bunco party, a baby shower and a Glitter Toes party here at the house. (will be adding more pics soon)

~We got a new (to us) vehicle since both the Explorer and Malibu were on their last leg....errrr....tire? We got a Jeep Commander and we absolutely love it. It has everything we ever dreamed of (and more!) having in a vehicle. Then our neighbor across the street backed into our Malibu. Twice. So, he bought the Malibu from us....so now Tracy is driving the Explorer which is reaching the end of it's road. So we will be needing another new vehicle soon. Which kinda sucks. We haven't had any car payments for 10 years....and now we are going to have TWO! UGH! Wish us luck on that. LOL
(will post pics soon)

~We went to Texas for a whole month! Well, Xander and I were there for a month but Tracy only got to stay for a week. We stayed with Joy and her family. It was so great to see Joy again. I hadn't seen her for a whole year- since we moved away. She has been through so much this past year and I wasn't able to go out there to help her during all of her chemo and surgeries so I really needed to go out and spend some time with her. It was awesome! We all got sick though so we didn't get to go out much to visit friends. :( But I was there to spend time with Joy and her family anyway, so that was no big deal. Joy is doing so much better and is gearing up for reconstruction surgery next month.
(I have lots of pics to post!)

~Tracy is remodeling the upstairs hall bathroom. (Xander's bathroom). It started with two of the shower tiles popping off...which was unusual and it looked like they had popped off before and the sellers just used some Elmer's glue to put them back up. Nice. So, we decided to go ahead and just re-tile the shower. Well, you know how plans go....once the tile was down, the whole wall was rotted out.(We have a sky light in the bathroom and it had leaked (before we bought the house) and the sellers "repaired" the leak (which could be a whole other post!) but didn't repair any of the damage....and basically hid the damage. So, Tracy ended up replacing the drywall, the studs, the insulation....everything. So, it's a gut-job. But he is doing a great job. It's not finished yet, but I will post pictures of the completed project when it's done.
(more pics coming....)

Sorry these pics are so small....they were taken on Tracy's iPhone and emailed to me while I was in Texas...so it's the best I could do.

So, I think that's pretty much the main happenings around our house. What are you "dooey-en"?

Our Easter, in an eggshell.

2010-05-06T10:30:00.018-05:00

So I am finally getting around to posting about Easter at our house. I'm not doing so great with updating my blog. I will try to be better. But with the great spring weather we are having, we spend most of our mornings, days and evenings outside. Xander loves being outside.
OK, so on to the show...er....blog post.

Happy Easter, Xander!

This is what was waiting for him when he got up. His shoe is tied to a very very very long string. I got this idea from Roots and Wings Co.- it's a blog that I love.

RootsAndWingsCo

So, he got to follow the yarn all over the house. He thought it was so fun!

Over the shark tent:

Into my craft room:

Through his story box:

Downstairs into daddy's office:

Through the bathroom:

And finally, the Easter basket is found.....
In his ball pit!

Ta Dah! That's what he said when he found it. LOL

Then came the Easter egg hunt in the back yard. It was fun to watch him run around the yard, looking for the eggs. Some of the eggs were the talking eggs.
You can see them here
No, I didn't pay that price for them. They were about half that price at Target. It made it fun to hear the eggs calling from different areas of the yard. The other eggs had hotwheels cars in them. One had M&Ms. Here are some pictures of the hunt.

The best part of the hunt was that we actually have a rabbit that frequently stops by our back yard so Xander thinks that is the Easter Bunny who hid the eggs and brought him a basket and hopped through the house with the yarn. It's awesome.

Later that day we went over to our friend's house. Liz and JP and, of course, Simone, Xander's girlfriend. We had a great dinner of salmon and asparagus. I made some desserts....ok, so it was more like TOO MANY desserts. But I wanted to try out all of the fun things I had found on blogs!
I made the carrot boxes (I filled them with candy and they became place cards for the dinner table) and Easter S'mores from the RootsAndWingsCo blog. Holy Yummy, Batman! The S'mores were awesome! I also made some chocolate eggs filled with chocolate mousse. Making the eggs was harder than it looked like it would be and much much messier than I had anticipated. Oh, and they turned out huge. LOL
I also made chicky cupcakes and mini bundt bird nests. Here are the pictures:

It was a great Easter and it was great to spend time with the Legerskis.

How long can I call him BABY?

2010-03-15T08:43:00.012-05:00

So, Xander turned three on Saturday. Where has the time gone? Every time I looked at the clock on Saturday, I would reminisce about what I was doing at that time three years ago. Nine AM - laying in the hospital bed with contractions. 11 AM - the Dr. finally shows up (Five hours after I checked in to be induced). One in the afternoon - Dr. broke my water. Seven PM - Dr. decides that I need an emergency c-section since I haven't dilated more than 3cm. 7:38 PM - My baby is here and he is the love of my life! (you know, besides Tracy)

And now my baby is THREE! So much has happened in the last three years. But it has gone by so fast. Our heads are still spinning but we are so in love with this little person who has changed our lives.

We started the day by hunting (or as Xander says, "I'm a detective looking for clues.") for his presents. I hid them around the house the night before so he wasn't overwhelmed by a pile of presents...this way, he found them one at a time, got to open each one, enjoy it and play with it for a while and then look for another one. I forgot about taking pictures until half way through "the hunt" so this is the first picture I got.

Found another one!

And another!

Later that day we went to the Durham museum; one of Xander's favorite places here because of all the trains. Also, right now they have a huge display of vintage pedal cars. His absolute favorite part of the museum is the gift shop. He chose a Steam Engine Train Toob. It's just a clear tube with lots of little train cars and a steam engine inside. He loves it.
Then we got home and the mail man came! A present from his best friend in Texas! Thanks Ian!

That evening, his little girlfriend, Simone, came over to help him celebrate the big day. Thank you, Simone!

We had a great time. I made a big cookie for Xander instead of a cake since he won't eat cake. Or ice cream. Oh, and I burnt his cookie. I'm such an awesome mom. So he didn't end up eating the big cookie either. He opted for one of the regular sized ones that I didn't burn. LOL He loved blowing out his #3 candle...Tracy kept relighting the candle for him to blow out. I also made one of those giant cupcakes. That was fun. But if you ever make one, have a plan for cutting it up. Once you cut through it, each side falls over and then you just have a big mess. I will need to figure out the best way to cut it up. If you know how, let me know!

Xander is three. Can I still call him my baby?

Our move to Omaha

2010-01-15T08:04:00.012-06:00

Tracy's client in Dallas was Washington Mutual and they went out of business and were purchased by Chase bank. So, without a client, Tracy wouldn't have a job, essentially. So as the account was coming to a close, Tracy was scoping out new accounts. With the economy the way it's been, we didn't feel like we could be picky or choosy. So the first one that came up was the one we took. Hello Omaha.
I was so sad to be leaving my sister in Dallas and all the friends that I had made there. But you gotta go where the job is.
We decided that it would be a good idea to rent once we got there so we could take our time getting to know the area and get a feel for where we would like to buy a house. So, I had this brilliant idea. I thought we should rent a loft downtown. It was an ideal time. We needed an apartment to rent, I always wanted to live in a loft, we didn't have a dog (which was always Tracy's excuse for not wanting to). So Tracy set out to find a loft. He found a great one right in the old Market. Unfortunately, the one he found was not the one that was available. He toured an upper level loft...the building has 6 floors. We got one on the ground level. The cherry hardwood floors apparently weren't on the first floor. We, instead, got industrial berber. With lots of gross stains. Lots of other perks came along with the first floor. We got people peeing on our windows, we got to go outside at 1am to break up fights that were right outside our bedroom window, we got to hear AND feel the front door to the building close every time someone went in or out. WHAT WAS I THINKING????? So, within the first week of living there we started looking for a house. At that point, we didn't care where we lived....as long as it wasn't on the first floor of the Joslyn Lofts!
Luckily, we found a great house in a great neighborhood in a great ward and it's close to Target. So, I'm happy! LOL
Here are some pictures of the new place. Of course, this is the sellers furniture but they show the house.

Here is the front of the house:

The entryway, looking back at the front door:

The entryway, looking in to the living room:

Living Room:

Dining area (it's an eat-in kitchen):

From dining area, looking into the living room:

Looking into the kitchen:

In the kitchen- yes, we will be making big changes in the kitchen soon:

There is a 1000 sq. ft. finished basement which we love:

There are a lot more pictures but I don't want to bore anyone. I think sometimes pictures that are of interest to us, are not so interesting to others. LOL

Sweet Callie Girl

2010-01-11T21:48:00.005-06:00

OK, so I haven't updated our blog for a looooong while. Mostly it is because we have just been soooooo busy with selling our house and moving and then moving again and trying to settle into our new house. But part of it is because we lost our sweet Callie in April to Osteosarcoma (bone cancer). I wanted to blog about her as a tribute or memorial or something but I just couldn't bring myself to write about her...somehow it would make it more real. And I didn't want to update the blog until I did the post about Callie. So I just didn't update the blog....maybe to avoid bringing it all to the surface. I still can't believe she is gone. We miss her so much! So I wanted to post some pictures of her. This is my Callaway.

I am very thankful to my sister, Joy, for coming over to our house to take some pictures of Callie before we had to let her go. They are all so perfect.

Her sweet paws....

A close up....you can see her swollen wrist in this picture. That is the bone where the cancer was. She could barely walk.

A shot with Callie and Xander together. I told him to give her a kiss. My sweet babies.

Another close up. I love those eyes. They seem to know more than you would think a dog should know.

Just some random shots of Callie that make me smile:

Xander and Callie Christmas 2007

This is Callie on the couch when we lived in Chicago.

Callie with baby Xander.

One of our family pics for Christmas 2007.

Our Christmas picture in Chicago 2002.

Xander Go Braugh!

2009-02-27T19:13:00.005-06:00

Top O' the Mornin' to ya!
Grandma sent Xander his birthday present and said he could open it early. Here are some pictures of him opening the present and playing with his new "woooo woooo!" (that is what he calls a train).

I'm so excited!

How does this bow come off?

What's it say, Daddy?

Ripping paper is hard work!

OOOh OOOOh! What is it?

Open it up, Daddy!

Let's read these instructions...let's see...we need batteries.

OK, batteries are in, now let's see what this thing can do!

It plays Irish music when you push the train.

I love my new train! Thanks Grandma!

Here fishy fishy fishy......

2009-02-15T21:56:00.008-06:00

So we got a fish tank for Xander several months ago. We were planning on getting him some fish for it about a week later...once the tank water was established. Well, that didn't happen. We ended up basically using the fish tank for "white noise" and a night light.
Well, we took Xander to Petsmart yesterday and we picked out four fish for his tank.
We got three Mickey Mouse platies and one other kind of platy...can't remember which kind it is called....oh well.
We liked the Mickey Mouse ones because they have black spots on their tails that look like a Mickey Mouse head. So cute.
Anytime Xander sees a fish he puckers his lips and makes a kissy sound and then a pop sound...hard to describe but just like when you make a fishy face...ya know what I am talking about? Anyway, he hasn't really gotten the whole concept that you name the fish. So since he only says a few words we decided to name each fish some of Xander's favorite words. There is BUS, TRUCK (which he pronounces "ducksh"), THIS and DOOR.
Anyway, here are some pictures of his new fish...

Here he is just after he finished making the fishy face...every time I snapped a picture it didn't take until he was done with the face....UGH! Oh well, at least I got Tracy making the face. LOL

Here fishy fishy fishy....

Hello fish!

Welcome to Xander's room! Please keep your fins and gills inside the tank at all times. Enjoy your life in your new digs!

We put it up on his dresser so he couldn't reach it but could still see it.

Bubble Boy

2009-01-11T01:02:00.003-06:00

OK, so I think Xander is now officially the "bubble boy"! I took him into his Dr. on Thu. to talk to her about my reflux theory...the reason I thought he might be coughing so much. Well, she was really great with me...she listened to me and agreed with me that it is very possible that reflux is playing a part in his cough and night time waking but she said he didn't sound very good to her and wanted to listen to his lungs. So she listened to them and said they sounded horrible and wanted to test him for RSV and do a breathing treatment in the office with the nebulizer. Well, the RSV test came out negative luckily. But unfortunately, the diagnosis for our baby is asthma. The only problem is right now we don't know if it is being caused by a cold (virus) or if it is from his allergies. I am leaning toward thinking it is his allergies....because he had just gotten over a month-long cough and an ear infection two days before Christmas and then on Christmas Day he started it back up again. Oh, and the other ear is infected now. The Dr. listened to his lungs again after the treatment and said he was breathing better. She sent me home with the nebulizer and four prescriptions...breathing treatment medication, a steroid to add into the nebulizer for the breathing treatments, an antibiotic for his ear and prescription allergy medication...Singular. We are doing the breathing treatments three times a day and we go back Tue. for a recheck. She said I couldn't take him outside until I brought him back to her. So we are house-bound and I feel like we are raising a bubble boy. He is sick so often and I guess this explains why. Asthma! The Dr. said we won't be able to even think about the reflux possibility until we get him better from this problem or at least get it under control. I am glad I had the idea about the reflux or else I probably wouldn't have taken him in to the Dr. I would have just figured he had another cough/cold and chalked it up to our bad luck with his sicknesses. So maybe he doesn't have reflux but I am glad I thought he might have because it made me take him to the Dr. and a now he has a diagnosis....finally!
I just hope we will be able to leave the house after we go back to the Dr. on Tue. My poor little pookie bubble boy. :(

Reese is starting chemo next week

2009-01-07T19:52:00.002-06:00

Thank you all, again, for praying for baby Reese. Her tumor did not come back benign- they found neuroblastoma cells in it so she is starting chemo on Monday. Please keep her in your prayers next week as she starts her chemo. The drs. say it could be worse- it is a stage 2 tumor. So we are thankful that it wasn't a stage 3. I just can't imagine what this little girl and her parents are going through. Thank you so much for praying for them!

Reese is home!

2008-12-30T22:28:00.003-06:00

I want to thank everyone for your prayers. It means so much to me to have my family and friends praying for Xander's little friend. Reese is home now and is recovering slowly from the surgery. Here is an update from Kristina, Reese's mom. (taken from Reese's care page)

Home Sweet Home!
Posted 1 hour ago

Hi All,
We are home and enjoying every minute of it! Reese has done amazingly well through all of this, she truly is an inspiration and I gain so much strength from her. I think to myself if she can handle this I can.
The surgery took about 2 hours and went very well. Dr. Miller was able to do a partial sternotamy which means he only had to break her sternum half way down which was wonderful. We are still waiting on pathology but everyone involved was very encouraged by the look of the tumor. The tumor was very tangled in her major arteries of the neck so it was a tricky surgery but Dr. Miller did an amazing job.
We spent 1 night in the ICU and then the rest of our stay on the 3rd floor. This is the most pain I have ever seen Reese in and it is very hard to watch but she is getting stronger every day. Her voice is coming back but still very soft and sad sounding. She was very weak from the surgery and very wobbly when she walked but that is improving also.
Since getting home Reese has began to eat much better which will help with her strength also.
The next step is to wait on pathology and then determine our path for the coming months. We are praying for a benign tumor and if that is the case we will do frequent scans to make sure she stays clear.
For now I ask that everyone continue to pray for Reese and all the other little cancer warriors.
Our friend Lukas MacDonnell from Cooks [Children's Hospital] is at the hospital now and could use some prayers as well-
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lukasmacdonnell
We also want to thank everyone for their kind words of support and offers to help, it touches our hearts and makes a difference.
Love to All,
The Harding's

The day the big guy came to our house....

2008-12-26T22:58:00.007-06:00

Xander still doesn't understand the whole Santa concept and is deathly afraid of the guy. But he sure is happy with all his new stuff! Note to self....don't buy so much stuff next year. Too much stuff! He doesn't even know about half of the presents because I ended up putting them away. He was just overwhelmed by all the toys- it was too much. We will get the other stuff out probably for his birthday.
Here are some pictures of Christmas morning.

He got a ride-on car....

And a parking garage.....

And a Clifford the big red dog ride-on....you may notice we only have one picture of him on this toy. He only knew about it because I picked him up and put him on it. He still doesn't even care that he has it. Clifford is his favorite character but apparently not his favorite "ride-on". Oh well. It goes up to 65 pounds so he has some time to get to like it. I just hope he likes it eventually. LOL

He loves his new car/road mat....

The thing we will remember most about this day is what he did when we asked him if he wanted to open a present. His speech therapist has been teaching him to knock on the baby gate and say "open please" when he wants to go through the gate. Or knock on daddy's office door or basically anything he wants opened. He doesn't say "open please"....that is what we are working on. He just knocks. So I handed him a present to open and asked if he wanted to open it. He knocked on it. It was so funny. We have it on video so I will post the video.

Anyway, we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We are sending out New Year's cards and a newsletter this year. We totally missed the Christmas card boat. Oh well.

Another Reese update......

2008-12-20T21:39:00.002-06:00

Here is an update on Reese. I took this directly from her care page (http://www.carepages.com/carepages/ReeseAddisonHarding) written by Kristina, Reese's mom.
Thank you all so much for praying for Reese. I will continue to update you as I hear more.

Hi All,
We have had another busy day! Dr. Granger called this morning to tell us that the initial path[ology] still seems to be very favorable and that they hoped to have a final answer tonight- I haven't heard yet...But they felt so confident in the results that they have scheduled surgery for next Tuesday December 23rd.
We will talk with Dr. Miller on Monday about the details of the surgery, but I know it is going to be a somewhat difficult surgery. It was compared to an open heart surgery as far as the way they will do the incision. It scares me to death, but I have to be happy that we are not starting with chemo which means they think the tumor will be benign!
We will definitely be in the hospital for Christmas since we will probably spend a few nights in the ICU and a few on the regular [oncology] floor. The good thing is Reese will not know it is Christmas.
Today we went in to the hospital and had an X-Ray to make sure the tumor was not constricting her airway- Good news! It has shifted her airway but it does not look constricted at all!
Reese seems to be feeling pretty good and is enjoying seeing more of Mommy and having the Grandma's in town to visit! We will try and have a fun weekend and celebrate Christmas a little early.
I want to thank everyone again for all their support. I ask that everyone continue to pray for our little Reese. Pray that the surgery goes quickly and smoothly and pray that the rest of the tumor they remove is benign.
Love to All,
The Harding's

Dancing with the Star

2008-12-13T21:04:00.007-06:00

Tracy has compiled a bunch of videos of Xander (the Star, hee hee hee) dancing and put it to music. Here it is. Oh, also, please ignore me in the background. It seems like Tracy got me in almost every video! UGH! I prefer to be more "behind the scenes" so to speak. Oh well.

Update on Reese

2008-12-08T22:58:00.002-06:00

Reese had her surgery on Friday but they were not able to remove the tumor. The Dr. did say it looked "mature" which doesn't sound good but is actually considered "favorable" because it means it is done growing and isn't spreading. It is in the same place as last time. They took a biopsy of it as well as a bone marrow aspiration. They also put a new port in for chemotherapy. After being intubated two days in a row, she had some swelling and wasn't breathing well and went to the ICU. Last night she was able to leave the ICU and she is breathing well on her own now. They just got the preliminary results from the biopsy tonight and they are looking "good" but they need to wait 7-10 days for the official test results to make sure they match the preliminary results. They will be making a care plan for her tomorrow for her chemo schedule. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and I ask that you remember to continue praying for her and her mom and dad. I am very blessed to have such great family and friends that will pray for my friend that they have never even met. Thank you so much! I love you all! I will keep you updated.

Please pray for baby Reese

2008-12-04T23:50:00.004-06:00

I have a good friend who has a baby Xander's age. Xander and Reese have been friends for almost a year. They have taken Little Gym class together and we have weekly play dates with them. When Reese started at Little Gym she had just finished up with chemotherapy for Neuroblastoma. She had responded well to the treatment. In June she had a scan and was all clear of cancer. Her port was taken out and everyone was so relieved she made it through it all. She just had another follow up scan today and they found out the cancer is back and it is worse than before. She will now have to go through a very invasive surgery where they will collapse one of her lungs to remove the tumors and then will have to go back through chemotherapy.
We love this little girl so much and can't even imagine what they are going through right now. This is Eric and Kristina's first child and they have been on such a roller coaster since they discovered her cancer last year.
Please keep them in your prayers.

This is Reese a week after her first diagnosis and surgery last year:

This is Reese last week:

Meeting Clifford The Big Red Dog

2008-11-15T14:38:00.004-06:00

So at our local Barnes and Noble bookstore, they had a pajama storybook party where the kids could meet Clifford. I took Xander and Tracy met us there (he flew in from Mexico and got there just as Clifford was making his appearance)to meet Clifford. He loves watching the Clifford cartoons so I thought this would be so fun for him. He really loved seeing Clifford....from far away. When Tracy took him up to meet him and get his picture with him, Xander wanted to get the heck out of there. I think he was seriously wondering why his Superman cape wasn't working to fly him outta there. Oh well. He got his very first Oreo cookie to eat while they were reading Clifford books so I guess it wasn't a TOTAL loss. LOL Here are some pictures of the event.

Here comes Clifford! (He was excited at his point)

CLIFFORD! (Still excited)

"For the love of all that's holy! Save me! I beg of you! No closer!"

"I'm Superman! Why can't I fly, DANGIT!"

Some recent photos of X

2008-11-15T11:00:00.008-06:00

We are always taking pictures of the boy so I thought I would post some of them for your viewing enjoyment. LOL

This is what happens when you give a toddler a chocolate granola bar and let him go at it:

Xander likes to get onto Callie's bed and "share" it with her. She, on the other hand, isn't so excited about the whole "sharing" process.

Xander's first time trying pomegranate seeds......survey says???? YUM!

And just in case anyone out there isn't sure if Xander is a "mini-me" of Tracy, here is yet another photo that proves they are the same person, in two different bodies.

Halloween at our house....

2008-11-02T16:29:00.020-06:00

I need to start this post out by saying Tracy is the brains of this operation....I am the one who executes it all. So, Tracy was the one who thought up the idea for Xander's costume and I put it together....except for the lettering...Tracy did that.
Those are just always the first questions we get when people see Xander in his costume...."Who thought that up?" and "Where did you get that?"

We had a fall festival at our church building on Saturday (the 25th) where there was supposed to be a costume contest. Apparently, someone complained to the bishop that their kids never win so there was no costume contest this year. How about people just grow up? If your kids don't win, it's because you aren't creative enough! Sheesh! So what if Joy's kids and our kid win every year? It's because we come from the same gene pool...we are smart and creative and our kids are adorable! Deal with it people! If you want your kids to win, put them in something other than the standard Wal-Mart "princess" or "superhero" costume off the rack! OK, I am off my soap box now. Sorry for the small tangent.
Here we go...

We drove straight from the airport to the church. We had Xander's costume in the car and we went into the mother's room at the church and put it on him. Here he is....Michael Phelps! (the early years...before all the training started)

Here he is from behind:

John McCain and Sarah Palin made an appearance at the festival:

Our friend Leo(organ grinder)with his son Cameron (monkey):

Xander loves pushing Logan around in his stroller (Logan was a puppy):

Xander with his friend, Luke, who was a 70's disco dude:

We had a play date with all our friends on Halloween. These kids have been together in Little Gym class all year. We have play dates every week and they all get along great. It was fun to get them all together with their costumes on.

Alaina (angel)and Madison (bee):

Gavin (BamBam) and Reese (Pebbles):

Brady as a crab:

Madison with her mom, Michelle:

Noah as a giraffe:

Noah with his mom, Nicole:

Gavin with his mom, Amanda (Betty):

Reese with her mom, Kristina (Wilma):

Group shot:

On our way home from the play date (one of the goody bags had these google eye glasses in them and Xander put them on...and kept them on!):

We didn't get any shots of Xander actually trick or treating that night but it was the funniest thing to watch. I had the stroller with us thinking that he wouldn't really get the whole idea and wouldn't want to walk but I couldn't have been more wrong. By the second house, he totally understood all of it. He would walk up to the home, show the person his medals, take some candy, put it in his pail and wave to the person. Then he would walk down the driveway and off he would go to the next house. We were laughing so hard! It was awesome! It was so much fun to go trick or treating with him and I am so glad we were both there (Tracy and I) to see it. But because we both went, we have TONS of left over candy since we weren't home to pass the candy out. Bummer. Guess we will just have to eat it all. LOL

Our trip to Marco Island, Florida

2008-10-30T16:29:00.015-05:00

So we went on a free trip to Marco Island, Florida because Tracy qualified for President's Club. It's for the top performers in the company. If you qualify they send you on an all expense paid trip. This year it was to Marco Island, Florida. In the past it has been in Jamaica, Hawaii, Cancun, Arizona etc....The best one ever was the one to Hawaii. That rocked. We decided to "opt out" of the Jamaica trip back in 2002 and took the money instead. Arizona was the trip when I was pregnant. Anyone who knows how great my pregnancy went will pretty much know how that trip went. This was our first time going with Xander. What a totally different experience to go on a vacation with a toddler. By the first couple of hours on the island, we were thinking we wanted to take a vacation from this vacation. Xander is at the stage now where he wants to go go go and it is always in the wrong direction. And if we try to steer him into the right direction, a tantrum will erupt. Or if we pick him up and try to carry him back to where we need him to be, a tantrum erupts. So we have renamed Marco Island and now it is lovingly known as Tantrum Island. So anyway, here are some pictures of our trip.

Here is Superman....er...Xander at the airport checking out the airplanes and trucks through the window. We had a little bit of a wait to board our airplane but Xander didn't mind at all. We had to wake him up to go to the airport so he is in his jammies. Lots of people on the plane were very happy to see that Superman was on our flight. LOL

There was a dinner that night outside by the beach. We were chasing Xander around the whole time so we didn't get any pictures. Chasing Xander around ended up being the theme of the whole vacation. After a night of no sleep...for any of us...we went on a shelling excursion. We took a catamaran ride out to Romano Island to collect sea shells.

Here are some pictures of Xander and Daddy on the beach...waiting for the catamaran to pull up to shore.

Here are some pictures of Xander sporting his life vest. (just in case there are any Florida law officials checking out my blog. See? He wore the vest the whole time he was on the boat!)

We were able to see pods of dolphins while we were on our way to and from the island. This was the coolest part. It was so cool to see them in their natural habitat as opposed to dolphins at Sea World- which is also very cool...just different-cool. It was mating season and the Captain told us the day before he actually saw dolphins mating. Apparently, we were not on the dolphin porno tour. Thankfully. But we did get to see some dolphins racing the boat...it was neat. The Captain said males will do that during mating season since they are extra frisky.

Xander didn't have any interest in picking up sea shells- which were more abundant than the actual sand on the shore of Romano Island. But he did like the water coming up and covering his feet. Oh, and he also liked to wash his bus in the water.

The next day we took him swimming in the heated splash pool. He really liked it. Of course, this was the best picture I got. It was kinda raining and the lens of the camera fogged up and I didn't realize the problem until it was too late. UGH!

Then we spent some time on the balcony of our hotel room.

Then we got ready for the black and white gala. It was the awards dinner where Tracy got his award for being awesome.
This is what Xander wore. He was the hit of the evening.

Then back in the room and ready for bed. He played on the floor (which I am sure is just so clean and sanitary...I don't even want to think about the crap that was on that floor!) while we packed to leave in the morning.

It was a fun and exhausting trip. It was fun to see all the stuff the way Xander was seeing it- for the first time. But it was exhausting for the same reason. I don't know how he has so much energy! :)

It's just not FAIR!!!!

2008-10-18T22:42:00.002-05:00

So we took Xander to the State Fair of Texas on Friday. Tracy took the day off from work so we could go. He got to feed some goats and see a giraffe and some ostriches and a pig with her baby piglets and some kangaroos and zebras and emus and bunnies. Ya, I didn't get any pictures of any of those things. The camera was in my bag but since we couldn't bring in the stroller, he was "free" to run and dash anywhere. It was so crowded so it was all we could do to keep track of him and keep him from being trampled. I had no time to even search for the camera in my bag let alone take pictures. So no pictures of that. But we took him on his first rides; on a train and a roller coaster. We did get pictures of those things.

Here he is waiting in line with Daddy.

On the roller coaster...he had to sit on the inside so I couldn't get a good picture of him.

Coming off the roller coaster.

Mommy and Xander on the train.

Still on the train...the train went around like 10 times....I was wondering if it was ever going to end.

Coming off the train....finally!

On our way over to see the animals Xander saw something he liked so we stopped to see all the tractors.

He had to touch every tractor.

He was running from one tractor to the next tractor. So funny to watch.

Then he had to shop for some tractors.

The part that wasn't fair was the prices. Sheesh! We dropped one hundred freakin' dollars at the fair! Between admission, drinks, food and the rides.....but I got to have deep fried S'mores so I chalked it up to basic collateral damage. Whatever it takes to get s'more of those s'mores.....I am all over it! YUMMY! I guess I will have to wait another year to get them. It was LOTS better than the deep fried Coke they had last year. That was a CROCK! The lamest fair food ever.
Well, it was definitely a different experience to go to the fair with a toddler. I can totally understand why some parents use those leash things for their kids. I remember before I had a child I would look at the "poor little kids that had to be walked around on a leash like a dog" and I would say "what kind of parents would do that?" Well, I am seriously considering getting one of those. So, now I know...parents like me do that! Parents that have a toddler that runs at any given chance and hates to be in a stroller and parents that don't want to be running full speed after their toddler all day. Sign me up!

Happy Birthday to Mommy!

2008-10-12T11:21:00.004-05:00

So for my birthday we took Xander to a birthday party for one of his friends from Little Gym....Brady. He turned one...on MY birthday! (OK, so I guess it is HIS birthday, too. Fine. I will share.) How cool! Well, we were minding our own business, having fun at the birthday party when he decides to jump off my lap and it caught me off guard. He face planted into their coffee table. I picked him up and he was crying and I went to look at the damage and there was lots of blood. From what we could see through the blood, his teeth went through his bottom lip....it was bleeding from both sides. Since it was his mouth, we wanted to make sure he was ok and didn't need stitches or anything so we took him over to the ER...just down the road from the birthday party. It was the new Presby Rockwall hospital. Once we figured out how to get to the ER area, we took him in and oh my gosh...this hospital was TINY! And of course we were the only ones there. They HAD to be bored beyond comprehension. So we checked in and went through triage. He got a band around his ankle which he was not happy about. He didn't want to do anything until it was off. They put it there because the nurse said kids will usually forget about it if it is on the ankle rather than the wrist. Well, leave it to Xander to defy the odds.
The Dr. checked him out....she was really nice. She said the inside of his bottom lip got two bottom teeth and the outside of his lip got it from the top teeth. The punctures didn't go all the way through....which is what we thought was the case. So no stitches! YAY! Just a fat lip. His teeth appeared to be fine, too. We were lucky. His first trip to the ER was fairly painless. I think Tracy and I were feeling more pain than he was. That is a scary thing for your first baby....but we lived through it. We were pretty pleased with the fact that we made the nurses and Drs. day more exciting. Then as we were leaving, a cop pulled up to the ER with a guy in hand cuffs. OK, never mind. That was probably what was going to make their day exciting. We kinda wanted to stay to see the excitement but figured we should get Xander home...he had a long day.
Here are some pictures of Xander in the ER...they were taken on Tracy's cell phone so they aren't the greatest but at least we have something to put in his baby book....that I haven't even written anything in yet. UGH!

I got tagged!

2008-10-05T21:45:00.003-05:00

I was tagged! Six weird and random things about me!

The rules are:

* Link to the person who tagged you (JW)
* Post the rules on your blog
* Write six random things/unspectacular quirks about yourself
* Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them
* Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog
* Let the tagger know when your entry is posted

So, here they are...

1. I have to match Xander's sippy cups with the correct lids.....the ones that they came with from the store (even if other lids fit or are the same brand or whatever....they have to have the lids that originally came with the cup. I did the same thing with Xander's Playtex bottles- they had to have the right ring and cap) This drives Tracy CRAZY!
2. I pick the skin off my right thumb. I can't not do it.
3. I weight myself about 60 times a day. My weight hasn't changed for months and months and it is so depressing but I still do it.
4. I have Cinemarkalepsy. I fall asleep in EVERY movie. Every. Single. One.
5. I can never mail anyone a present on time. I absolutely HATE the post office or any other mailing place. So unless someone else mails it for me, you aren't getting it on time. Or sometimes only when you come and get it from me.
6. I like to fake online shop. I put things I want into my "shopping bag or cart" and then exit the website. I get my shopping fun but I don't spend any money. Hey. It works for me. Don't knock it.

I tag

Stephanie
Jamie
Erica
Tammy
Laura
Gayleen

Shot in the arm.

2008-10-02T22:18:00.003-05:00

OK, so if you ever need to get a shot from an injection pen. DO NOT....I repeat....DO NOT do it in the arm. I can't even begin to describe the pain that comes from this. Note to self. No more shotty in army. The end.

*Shot was Humira for AS. I have to get them done every other week. I make Tracy give them to me. I still can't do it on myself. I just can't make myself push the button.
:)

Baby Got Croup

2008-09-22T23:03:00.004-05:00

OK, sing it with me!

I like big coughs and I cannot lie.
You other babies can't deny.
When a baby sits down with an itty bitty frown
And a red nose like a clown
You get steam - from the shower
Sit in the bathroom for an hour.
To loosen all the goop.
Baby got Croup.

Yep, that's right. The boy is sick. AGAIN! This time he has croup. I mean, is it too much to ask to have him healthy for a week? I guess so.

So he got to spend some time sitting on Daddy's lap and watching some Baby Einstein....On The Go. It's his favorite one. It has the bus (which is what he is pointing at) and the fire engine and all the cars.... he sat there and watched the whole thing and never moved. So you know he must not be feeling well if he stayed put for almost 40 min.

We went to the Dr. today and they gave him an oral steroid- which he didn't like too much since it was grape flavored. Which boggles Tracy's mind. Grape is Tracy's favorite flavor and since Xander is such a carbon copy of Tracy, it is pretty shocking that there is a difference in their tastes.

After we got home from the Dr. he decided he needed to make some calls to Zurich to move some money around. He had his bank on the line on the purple phone and his broker on the cell phone. All while trying to drive....good thing he wasn't in a school zone!

Day in the life of Xander (Sept. 13th)

2008-09-18T23:59:00.011-05:00

So last Saturday I did "A Day in the Life" of Xander for a discussion board that I am on....dfw area moms. It took a super long time to do and it is kinda a pain to do since you have to carry the camera around every where all day and remember to snap pictures and then you have to upload them and then size them (which I didn't do on a couple of groups of pictures as you will be able to see). Anyway, there is a calendar where you sign up to do the DITL (day in the life) on the discussion board so there is usually one done per day. When people do the posts there are usually 4-6 pages worth of comments from other moms about the pictures...how cute or how fun or SOMETHING....so I was expecting something similar. I don't know any of the people in real life but I view all of them and make comments on each person's day...even though I don't know them...which most people don't personally know most of the people...since it is a discussion board and all. So anyway, I got 98 views....which is pretty good. But only 3 people left any comments. I was just so bugged about this. If you are going to take the time to view my pictures, why not leave a comment??? So, this has bascially led me to decide to leave the discussion board. There were other things that bothered me about the women on there but this was the final straw. So before I made my decision I decided to copy the post and put it on my blog so I could share it with people that actually care. Well, I hope you all care....at least a little bit. :) So, anyway, here is the posting. There are some repeat pictures from my last posting about the play date since I did the DITL on the day of the play date. OK, so here is a day in the life of Xander.....

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*OK, so I am sorry the pictures are all so small. The next set I will size better. But I am WAY behind so I can't go back and fix these.

Good morning babykins!

It was dark in his room because of the weather. It was 8am though. So, the flash hard on his eyes....so he keeps looking down.

Good morning Callie!

Time for a diaper change....that flash is bright!

Look! I can zip up my jammies!

Time for morning milky! (I was planning on feeding him breakfast at the same time but he wasn't into it so just milky for now.

*Notice he has to have his entire crib with him in the morning. He won't get out of his crib until all of his lovies and blankets are out, too. Then he carry's them around with him. This just started this week.

Good Morning, Daddy! (Daddy has the same light sensitivity as the baby)

Turning on the news to check for an Ike update

Mom! Stop taking pictures! It is too bright!

Watching Clifford....but we really have to get going. Little Gym is at 9:15! We are going to be late!

OK, sorry this picture is sideways...I didn't want to take the time to edit it. LOL

Xander thinks he should be doing dishes but he really should be getting dressed.

__________________

OK, Here is the next batch.....I don't know why, but this day isn't going at all like I had planned it out in my head. LOL

Dressed for Little Gym! Let's go!

In the car....he still looks tired!

Here we are! We are late so we have to hurry in....

No pics during Little Gym since I was going solo.... But we are done now and there were kids coloring in the kitchen so all of a sudden he wants to do that too. He has never shown an interest in coloring until this very second. LOL

OK, let's get your shoes on so we can go...He is more interested in moving chairs around the kitchen.

Say bye bye to your friends! This is Reese, she will be at the play date later today, too.

We are home now and while we were gone, Daddy moved a bunch of toys into his bedroom in preparation for the play date. WOW! I wanna play!

Forget those toys! Check out these new ones! This is the first he has seen the toys for the Fisher Price play date....He is digging them.

Callie has something to say. What's that? Oh! She says....Someone play with ME!

OK, you can play, too!

__________________

OK, Now that he is down for a nap, I can upload some more pics. Ok, I totally forgot to size them correctly again. I have a massive headache so I am going to blame it on that. LOL

OK, he finally decided he wanted to eat breakfast....apparently toys are better than food.

Banana and Berry Berry Kix......YUM!

Now that he has something in his belly, it's play time again. Here he is deciding the grass that the pony is on needs to be mowed.

Now that the grass is mowed, time for playing with the jungle animals.

After play time, it is snack time.... he loves eating apples.

Now time for a nappy! Mommy has LOTS to do before the play date! Have a good nap baby boy!

__________________

OK, here are some more pictures.....

Naptime is over!

Hi Callie! Callie always comes in with me to get Xander.

Smoothie time!

Checking out the rain with Daddy. This is in the front of the house.

This is in the back....please ignore the super long grass. DH couldn't mow today because of the rain...it is so long!

Callie needs to go out to potty but she will only go out with her raincoat on...this is her coming back inside and shaking water everywhere.

Time for our Fisher Price Play Date! Everyone braved the monsoon rain storm to come play with the fun toys!

__________________

Getting lotioned up after bathtime.

Time for night time milky!

More play time before bed.

Spinning, spinning.....this is fun!

Ride 'em Cowboy!

Watching Callie - she had to go outside for a potty break.

Then we brushed teeth but I have to "help" him (read: do it for him) so I didn't get any pictures of it.

Time for jammies!

I can zip it myself, Daddy!

See!? I did it!!

Time for prayers!

Turning out the light.

Night Night baby boy!

OK, there is our day! Now I am going to collapse. LOL

Our Fisher Price Play Date

2008-09-14T18:24:00.007-05:00

So we had the play date on Saturday. It went really well. Even though we were in the middle of Hurricane Ike. It was raining so hard....It was nothing like what Tammy experienced in the Houston area, I am sure. But everyone that came was soaking wet. I was very grateful that everyone braved the weather and was safe in their travels. Here are some pictures from the play date.

Luke, Brit, Kelley, Madison, Noah, Michelle, Mark and Tina

Reese, Madelyn, Luke and Xander

Joy, Reese, Noah, Michelle and Kristina

Logan was having a GREAT time!

Kelley, Cameron and Madison

This is Logan (on the blanket) and Madelyn. Reese is in the background.

This is a picture of the rain. Xander loved going out there with Daddy.

This is Kelley with Cameron.

This is Luke (red shirt) and Madelyn and Xander and half of Tracy.

This is Luke and Madelyn (with Luke's mom, Brit)

Luke, Noah (striped shirt) and Kristina and Xander in the back.

Luke, Xander and Cameron (with his mom, Kelley) and Tracy's legs.

The Five

2008-09-12T17:40:00.002-05:00

10 years ago I:
1. I became a District Manager for Wal-Mart
2. I was so much thinner than I am now
3. Living in Sandy, Utah
4. Was completely inactive
5. Driving a brand spankin' new car

5 things on today's "to do" list:
1. Go to the Dr.
2. Sweep the kitchen floor
3. Mop the kitchen floor
4. Take care of Xander
5. Get Xander ready for bed

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Frozen Reece's Peanut Butter BIG cups
2. Joy's mint brownies
3. Stacy's cinnamon and sugar pita chips
4. Rachel's home made caramel popcorn
5. Ice cream

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Pay off house
2. Build a new one with lots of land
3. Save money for college and retirement
4. Pay someone to make me skinny
5. Pay off Joy's house and then demolish it and rebuild it for her

5 places I have lived:
1. Rowlett, Tx
2. Orem, Ut
3. Carpentersville, IL
4. Sandy, Ut
5. West Jordan, Ut

Five jobs I have had:
1. Party Land
2. Osco/Payless Drug
3. Wal-Mart....many positions
4. Assistant SBU Manager at ACS
5. Personal Assistant to Xander

I tag...
1. Stephanie
2. Erica
3. Jamie
4. Harmony
5. Mandy

Rules:Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you've answered the questions on your blog. Posted by Melinda

PSA: When it is 108 degrees outside, don't spend hours out in the sun landscaping your yard.....

2008-09-08T22:20:00.016-05:00

OK, so I am finally getting around to posting our landscaping project. We had planned this day for weeks. Our landscaping just sucked....as you can see. We never liked it and hated trying to keep up with it...ok, keep up with WEEDING it so when my dad came out this summer we had him pull out all the bushes in preparation to replant stuff we liked. But we never got around to it since it was so hot all summer. We knew we were days away from getting a letter from our HOA saying we had to fix our landscaping so we planned which Saturday we were going to do it. The Friday before we went to Covington's and bought all the plants we wanted and then Tracy went and got all the peat moss and mulch. We knew it was going to be hot the next day....hottest day of the year. But we already went and bought all the plants and had planned to do it so gosh darnnit, we were going to do it! While Tracy was out he had a brilliant thought to buy a canopy to set up so we could have shade to work in and a high velocity fan to keep us a little cooler. We had our pack and play set up for Xander to play in while we worked. We got up at 6am so we could get a good hour of work in before Xander woke up....well, scratch that plan because Xander woke up at 6 that morning! UGH! So we bring him out with us at 6am and put him in his pack and play....to play. Well, scratch that plan, too. All he did was scream. He doesn't like to be confined. So we are outside at 6am with a screaming toddler. This was going to be a great day! These are pictures of what are yard looked like when we started that morning. It got hot very quickly and I ended up needing to go inside with Xander. Dang it! (hee hee hee hee) So Tracy rototilled the dirt and got it all prepared for the new plants. I put Xander down for a nap and went back out to help plant. It was so freakin' hot...even with the canopy and fan and the gallons of ice water we drank. We seriously didn't think we would ever recover. We were so dirty and tired and just exhausted. We finally were able to move again and we showered and went back out to buy more plants....there just weren't enough...it still looked bare. The shot of the temp. we took while we were out getting more plants....yes. It says 108 degrees. Crazy, huh?

So we were just too tired to get "after" shots that day. We just barely took them the other day. So the plants have been in for about a month now. But this is what it looks like now. Oh, and that isn't a big black snake. That is our soaker hose.

A weekend of postponements

2008-09-07T23:54:00.003-05:00

So Xander is sick....green goop oozing from his nose, coughing up a lung....you know, the basic everyday cold. Well, we had a very special play date planned for Sat. (the 6th) - I got approved to host a Fisher Price play date through Houseparty.com. There were lots of kids coming, I bought all the food and party favors. But when your baby is sick, he is sick. We had to postpone the play date until next Saturday. I am bummed because some of the people that were planning on coming won't be able to attend on the new date. But hopefully Xander will be feeling better by then. So that was the first thing postponed this weekend.
We were also planning on attending a special vacation paid for by Tracy's work. It's called President's Club. The top performers for the year get picked to go on an all expenses paid vacation. This year the vacation is on Marco Island, Florida. We were going to get to go on a catamaran and collect shells on the beach. All fun things we think Xander would love. Then the lovely Hurricane Ike decided to rear his ugly head. We got a call today from Tracy's work saying they are postponing the trip until October. Tracy is super bummed because he was looking forward to the week off from work. I am bummed also, but not so bummed, too. I was really nervous knowing that the hurricane would be there right at the same time as us and that it was headed straight for the place we were going! I knew in the back of my mind that they would cancel it. Because who would send all their top people into a hurricane that has already killed 50 people? Ya know? So I am glad we will be home and safe this week and that we will still be able to go next month.
I just thought it was strange that we had two things postponed this weekend. That's all. The end.

ETA: Ok, people have been wondering what the Fisher Price play date is all about. Houseparty.com is a website where companies can get people to host parties featuring their products and the host gets free stuff for doing it. It introduces people to their new product and people can test it out and then I believe it is their intention that people will want to go and buy their products after they have seen them in action at the party. You can apply to host parties as they come available on the website. Fisher Price had a party (play date) that you could apply to host. You fill out a questionaire/application and then they pick people based on those to host a play date. If you were chosen to host, you get a party package...it had 4 big toys...a bounce and spin pony, cruise and crawl jungle, activity table and a zoo type toy (I have them all in a room but they are still in the boxes since Xander is sick...I didn't want to put the toys together because I don't want him playing with them while he is still sick. I set up all the toys and invite people over with their babies to play with the toys...take pictures of the event and then post them on the website. You can go to www.houseparty.com and check out pictures of people's play dates that they have posted. Most of them took place over the weekend...when our's was supposed to happen. Mine will be next week since Xander got sick. So anyway, I get to keep the 4 toys they sent and that is the coolest part! The bounce and spin pony toy retails for $70ish bucks! They also sent 10 toys to give away and also coupons and stuff. I have a friend who has hosted a couple of parties...one for Hershey's Bliss chocolates and another for a margarita maker. She got a margarita making machine for that party. It is like $100. Joy applied for a Canon party and is still waiting to hear back to see if she gets to host it or not. It isn't clear what the product is exactly but it has to do with digital scrapbooking so it will be cool, I am sure. So anyway, that is basically what I was talking about with the Fisher Price play date. I was so excited to be picked to host! I think there was only 100 hosts throughout the country so I am pretty darn lucky! :) OK, that is all. For real this time. The end. The REAL end. LOL

Pantry Play Time

2008-09-05T23:50:00.002-05:00

I needed a few minutes on the computer the other day and Xander was finished with his lunch and was wanting to get out of his highchair so I wheeled him over to the pantry door.....one of his favorite places to play. He loves to pull stuff out of the pantry and carry it around and then put it back. (I am very thankful he likes to put it back!) But he doesn't ever get to play with stuff higher up so he was thrilled with being in his highchair. It gave me the few extra minutes I needed to IM with my mom. :)

Reason # 48909 that Xander is just like Tracy

2008-09-01T22:05:00.006-05:00

A picture is worth a thousand words. So I guess this is 3000 words. (please ignore the huge mess around the computer...it is just a catch-all place in our home....one of the MANY! LOL)

He is on a website called www.kneebouncers.com and it is just the coolest thing ever! If you have a little one that loves the keyboard, this website is for you! Whatever key they push, it activates something on the screen. Xander loves it!

Fast forward to Aug/2008

2008-08-15T23:35:00.003-05:00

So, I am finally getting around to updating our blog. Xander is now 17 months old and we couldn't love him more if we tried. I am amazed every day. He is so freakin' cute, I can't even stand it! And I can say that! He doesn't even look like me so it's not like I am bragging. He is a miniature Tracy in every way. Seriously. So, Tracy works all day but it's not like he is gone, really. He is here, just shorter and he grunts and points more. Well, about the same, I guess. ;)
This week has been eventful! Not so much Monday and Tuesday, but on Wednesday, he turned 17 mos. old, graduated from Summer semester at The Little Gym and had a mommy and me play date at the mall with some friends. On Thursday we had a play date at our house and on Friday, he ate an apple like a big boy for the first time. Luckily, I have pictures of all of this stuff this week. UNFORTUNATELY, I have no idea what I am doing and don't know how to get pictures on here yet since this is the first time I have actually typed on this blog. Tracy started the blog when I got pregnant and now he says I am in charge of it. Well, this should be fun. LOL

Baby's First Week At Home

2007-03-31T21:36:00.000-05:00

Boy, kids are really wearing their pants baggy these days!

Apparently, he believes that if he can get back into the correct position, his mommy will put him back where it was warm and cozy.

I don't know why, but when babies make this face it's cute. When adults make it, they look dopey.

Cute little toesies.

He's such a cute little boy.

Shhhh... you wake him, you take him.

He loves his baths. Just don't take him out of the water.

Look what I found in a remote corner of the Sistine Chapel.

Xander with his Auntie Gayleen.

Another bath. He really likes them as long as he doesn't have to get out.

Baby Pictures

2007-03-14T11:04:00.000-05:00

Well everyone, he's here. Xander Gage Claycomb has finally made his appearance. When I get some more time, I will try an give the delivery story, but here are some pictures of the experience. He was 9 pounds, 10 ounces, 20 1/2 inches long, born at 7:38.

Shanyn getting settled in. It would only be a short FOUR HOURS before the doctor showed up.

She was still all smiles at this stage in the game.

It's actually Dr. Angel, but hopefully this is a premonition of things to come.

More than 12 hours later, Shanyn was a bit tuckered... needless to say.

I'm not really sure if the guy on the right was really a surgeon, but he did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

And the delivery time is...

"Hello Dallas! Are you ready to ROCK?!"

I'm not really sure... but I'm pretty sure... baby's pissed to have been moved.

Apparently, all he wanted was a hat. Buck naked, but throw a do-rag on his noggin and he's happy as a clam.

"Who am I?! I'm Popeye!"

Baby Papoose Xander.

But the hands didn't stay under wraps for long.

Xander with his nurse.

Baby and mamma.

"Uhm, could you turn out the light please? And see if you can shut up that blasted 7 pounder over there in the corner."

Some flippin' sweet pictures of the boy.

2007-01-29T12:03:00.000-06:00

We've finally decided on a name. Here's how we figure it will look:

Good thing is, now he will be able to pay for his own schooling... or at least the first three semesters of it.

2006-12-22T10:50:00.000-06:00

I thought I would give a tour of the baby's room for those who can't make it out to Dallas. Please keep your hands and legs inside the cart at all times and permanacer sentados por favor.

Callie was kind enough to have diarrhea in the middle of the floor already. I think she really wanted to help out with the decorating. Luckily she just tried to help out with the flooring and not the painting.

Here's the wall that seemed a whole lot easier in my head than when I tried to actually do it. I think from now on I need to take how easy I THINK something is going to be and add 50%. We'll call it the "yeah right" differential.

Here's the light fixture. It's sort of a joint effort between Lowes and Ikea. "Let's build something together!" Shanyn was a little nervous when I took my new purchases and went looking for wire-cutters, pliers, and a screw-driver.

We have a few giraffes for the baby. I hope he likes them as much as we are planning. On the window seat, there is a Tigger and a Sylvester, just in case! We can't remove that tag from the chair under penalty of law. (Dear mattress police: as you can see, the tag is still firmly attached!)

Here is baby's furniture. See that small rug in front of the crib? That is covering up the small spot where Callie had diarrhea.... who am I trying to kid?! It started there. It went to the changing table to the window in the picture above and ended up in front of the closet (not pictured)! I had just installed the flooring about two weeks prior. Why can't we have nice things? But I guess better the wood than the carpet that was in there before, eh? I think if it were the carpet, we would still be trying to get the smell out of the room.

That concludes our tour of the baby's room. Please exit to the left of the tram and watch your step. :)

3D Wubwub

2006-12-19T17:11:00.000-06:00

So we went and had some of those 3D ultrasounds done. They started out with the regular old pictures, but I thought I should hold on to this one in case there is any doubt later on in life. This picture could be very good as proof that our boy has a back bone. They were even kind enough to label it for him.

I think this one is my favorite of them all.

He kept his face blocked most of the time, all we could see were his hands and feet. I think that's his foot crossing under his chin in this shot.

By the way, I was looking at these and came up with a few new names to add to our choices...

Happy

Grumpy

Sleepy

Dopey

Sneezey

Bashful

And of course,

Doc!

A Name for Wubwub

2006-12-19T15:59:00.000-06:00

I might be going out on a limb here, but I don't think Wubwub will like the name Wubwub when he's seven. We better get a little serious on picking out a name. Our list has grown a bit:

Gage Tallen Claycomb
Dax Tallen Claycomb
Diesel Tallen Claycomb
Jaxom Gage Claycomb
Xander Gage Claycomb

or maybe we could just stick with Wubwub... Wubwub Eugene Claycomb! Perfick!

Old Pics...

2006-12-18T17:05:00.000-06:00

As you can tell from the date on these ultrasound pictures, I'm a little late getting them posted. Sorry, I've just been busy at work so not so much time for posting. I had a little free time so I'm going to try and get caught up. The doctor was lots more camera happy on this visit so we got a bunch of shots. I've picked out four of my favorites and I'll show you why.

This first shot has probably the best profile of baby that we've gotten yet.

I swear I've seen that profile somewhere else before...

This is one that shows baby Wubwub getting ready for Christmas...In case you can't quite see it, because I know the ultrasounds are often difficult to read, I've highlighted his Christmas preparation here for the ultrasoundly challenged:And here he is playing with some of the toys that Shanyn has provided for him.Again, for those of you who are not as proficient at reading these as I am, I've tried to point out the important parts. I really think I should be an ultrasound tech since I am so good at making things out. Here are his space shuttle and alien hand puppet:And finally, here is Wubwub dressed up in his Halloween costume.For those who cannot tell, he went as a monkey this year:

I don't know why people complain about these ultrasounds being hard to read. Obviously they're not looking hard enough.

Baby's Alter Ego

2006-10-24T14:28:00.000-05:00

We got our ultrasound where they gave us the sex of Wubwub. Looks like we're having a boy. But there were a few things that I noticed in the ultrasound that the doctor did not... Here is the ultrasound:

You can see Wubwub's head on the right side of the picture, the eyes and brow ridge... We actually got two pictures at this visit, but as far as I can tell, both pictures are identical. We got some other pictures earlier, but again, they all look the same. I'm begining to wonder if Wubwub hears the ultrasound coming and poses. Now here's what I saw, and tell me if you don't notice just a slight resemblance:

Or possibly this:

I'm not sure, but I think Wubwub's career path is already planned as an evil villian. I guess we'll start to wonder if he begins making outrageous claims like he invented the questionmark, or accusing chestnuts of being lazy.

Although, one good look at his belly in the ultrasound and I think he has a different career path before him:

We'll have to see which path he chooses. At least this way, he wont fall down. That would be good news.

I think we're pretty set on his middle name. Sorry family, but it's not going to be Eugene. We're going with Gage. Now we just need a first name. Shanyn wanted Deisel, but when we put it together with his middle name we realized that was out. "Hi, I'm Deisel Gage Claycomb, and this is my sister, Odometer." We're leaning towards Jaxom or Xander.

More to come!

And so it begins!

2006-10-09T17:24:00.000-05:00

So I guess I have to start somewhere. I had all the best intentions of building my own blogspot on my web site, but you know, why reinvent the wheel. Hopefully this Blogger site will work well.
This Wednesday is Shanyn's birthday, our anniversary, and the day we get to find out the sex of Wubwub. Every year I've tried to out-do the year before. Last year, we went to Orlando and went to all the theme parks and swam with a beluga whale. I don't know that there is much more that I can do, especially since we are saving for Wubwub's arrival. Maybe this will have to be the big equalizer year. Give me a chance to start over at zero. Then again, finding out if we are having a boy or a girl is pretty special. And since we are supposed to pay for the whole maternity this Wednesday as well, this birthday will still cost more than last year.