Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy Anniversary!

4 years ago I was getting ready to head down the aisle- tears streaming down my face thanks to Reba (who got all teary right before she headed down the aisle in front of me and totally cracked my composure), luckily they were happy tears. 4 years, 2 moves, 2 dogs, 2 kids, a menagerie of farm animals, and a world of happiness and joy. Thank you for all the blessings that have been bestowed upon my family in the last 4 years and here's hoping there will be more joy to come as we enter this new decade.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

perfect moments...


I think it is those sweet innocent perfect little fleeting moments that amke being a mom so wonderful. So many times I get wrapped up in being tired, or having too much to get done with housework, laundry, work etc that it all just seems overwhelming. And then I have one of those perfect monets of absolute joy when I look down at my little boys and realize what a blessing they are. All the screaming and and tnatrum throwing and whining dissapears in those moments and they look just like little angels. It is so amazing to watch their little minds and bodies grow and to realize that you had a hand in creating such a miracle. Today it was as simple as Xander repeating after me- I was getting him dressed as we left from daycare and he was fondling the button on my coat and I said "that's a button" and replied "button!". It was so adorable. That plus when I arrived to pick himup at daycare he can running as fast as his little feet would carry him to the door and James gave me a big grin as soon as he saw me! Aaahhh the little joys. But now James is screaming for food so I guess my moment on reflecting the joys of motherhood is over! typical...

Alexander is 19 months old!


Oh how times flies! They tell you that it does but it never really seemed to sink in for me until you are watching your kids grow up and they just change so fast! We had a sort of nice Christmas. Christmas Eve was nice but then Christmas day ended up being kind a stinker, more for Frank than me. I stayed up late when I got home from work watching the kdis open presents and such so by the time I got to bed I was wiped. James came in and ate but I was so exhausted I asked Frank not to wake me up again until to feed until I had to go to work as there was plenty of milk in the fridge. But then I guess he was kinda fussy all afternoon and then after I went to work he just got crabbier and crabbier. Finally after he had been screaming for several hours straight Frank threw in the towel and brought him to me at work so I could feed him. so after he tanked up at the breast he went home and slept for 6 blessed hours but by the end of it Frank was feeling pretty frazzled. My poor spoiled breast baby! He only took one bottle at daycare today and Frank said he only ate 2 oz when he fed him tonight so the poor little bugger is going be hungry when he wakes up- hopefully by then I will be home!

I can't believe that Xander is 19 months old- that is closer to 2 than 1 eeek! Just tonight I was talking about speech therapy and potty training at work and I realized that I don't really remember Xander at James' age- they change and grow so fast and there is just so much going on with them all the time that you forget how old they were when... I guess it is a good thing I have this blog to help me remember! It's like an online baby book for them. I think Xander enjoyed Christmas though. He didn't really get the whole Santa thing but he figured out that the pretty packages had lots of fun stuff in them pretty quickly! We spread out the opening of presents over Christmas eve and day and I think that was good for him b/c he just wanted to play with everything. I think his fav toy so far is the megablock dump wagon- it has all the things a little boy could love- legos, a wagon and a dumptruck all rolled into one! He loves his wooden train set too and the wooden cars I got him in the $1 bin at target are also a huge favorite! Frank tried to take Xander sledding on Christmas eve but that wasn't such a big hit. He liked it better on the toboggan than on the sled but I think sometimes when he gets all bundled up and ready to outside he can barely move and that really bothers him.

And lastly in big news James slept in his crib in his room last night for the first time. We are trying to establish good sleep habits earlier with him than we did with Xander so since recently he has been sleeping pretty long stretches at night we decided better now than never and into his crib he went. And he slept for about 9:30-4 and actually went right back to sleep after eating at 4. We had to wake him up to send him off to daycare this morning. Unlike Xander I think James is not much of a morning person- he takes after him mommy in that respect! Hopefully we can work Jame sin to the evening routine so that both boys are heading to bed at the same time so me and Frank can get some chores done or (gasp) get a little extra sleep!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!



So this year I had to work Christmas Eve and Day again(long story....) but at the last minute they decided they didn't need 4 of us and I was able to split the shift with one of my co-workers so she worked the first half of Christmas eve and I came in at 11pm. I still have to work Christmas night too but it gave me some extra time to spend with the family at home. We got to go to church, come home and have our shrimp dinner, and then open some of our presents before I had to go to work. We'll open the rest of our presents when I get home in the morning. I think it actually worked out well b/c that way we get to pace Xander a bit.. he'd open a present and then want to play with it. Next year I think that Christmas will take all day just to open presents!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

falling asleep...


Why do kids always look so darn cute when the are sleeping. It's like the devil in them takes a nap too and the angel gets to shine through! I swear the only time Xander stops moving is when he is asleep. My favorite part about this pic is that he never let go of his biscuit!

Friday, December 18, 2009

James is three months old!


How time flies! James is three months old and now weighs 14 lbs 6 oz- what a chunk! Xander is going to need to do some hefty growing otherwise J is going to catch up. Xander weighed in at 24.8 lbs- of course these are unofficial measurements done at work tonight where I had to return to sign something b/c we have a new charting system and I screwed up my delivery record- lesson learned, Don't leave work until your delivery record is signed and completed otherwise you will have to go back!!!!! Oh well it gave me the chance to run some errands and finish all that last minutre christmas stuff. I did however survive my first full week back at work and it wasn't terrible. I did find out the hard way that I have to drag my butt out of bed by 1 on the last day otherwise I won't be able to sleep that night and the next day totally sucks! But now I remember why I need to get up by 1...

Monday, December 14, 2009

happier news

In happier farm related news Molly is pregnant which means that Alexander should have an early birthday present of a new calf. Spring should be a busy time on the farm with Molly due to calf and the sheep due to lamb and me to have a new flock of duck/chickens. Heck maybe by then we'll be ready for some baby geese- MJ is getting big so hopefully she'll start laying sometime! Too bad Xander isn't old enough for his first 4-H calf yet b/c it would be so cool if they had birthdays close together- oh well. We'll start him getting to know this calf so that by the time he is old enough to be a cloverbud and actually have his own calf he will be well versed in caring for an animal. Sadly though I think he has to be 8 so we have a ways to go!

Oh and James survived his first day at daycare. I survived my first weekend at work and Frank "survived" his first weekend of being alone with both kids all night long. Unfortunetly I think that Sat night went better than Sun- he seemed pretty beat when I got home this morning. Actually he was sleeping on the couch and it sounded like he hadn't actually been able to sleep in bed all night. Apparently Xander wa sup so he slept in the chair with him for a while and then as soon as he got X down, then James decided to be fussy. I came home to find them on the couch with James passed out on his chest! They were so cute. So Daddy got to go to his own bed for about 45 minutes before he had to get up and go to work. This too shall pass and hopefully James will get better about taking a bottle and settling back down afterwards but unfortunetly he always seems pretty fussy after the 4am feeding even when I have him so... I guess we'll have to hope that he will just grow out of it. I need to check the Ferber book and see when he is old enough to let him fuss a little- this time I am determined to train him early to fall asleep on his own!

Another one bites the dust...

Effie died yesterday. Frank tied her up in the barn so the vet could come and preg check her and Molly and Lucy. When he went out the barn last night she had hung herself on the rope he used to tie her. It's such an awful and senseless way for her to go. I'm so sad that our sweet little heifer is gone.

Friday, December 11, 2009

James is 12 weeks old!

I can't believe that James is already 12 weeks old! I can't believe it is already time for me to go back to work! In some ways I am ready- it will be nice to have to use my brain again and to actually be able to engage in conversation instead of having to unravel Xander's babbling and to get a paycheck but I am sad to see this time with my boys come to an end. I hate the idea of someone else raising my kids but at the same time I know myself well enough to realize that I am not cut out to be a stay at home mom. Kudos to all you SAHMs b/c I just can't do it! So back to work Sat night- hopefully I haven't forgotten how to do my job and I can manage to stay up all night long!

James is becoming such a big boy these days. He spending less time sleeping and more time soaking it all in. He has the best smile and always seems to grin at you when you need a little pick me up. He's cooing a lot now too- more so than I remember Xander doing at that age. He recognizes me and Frank and always gives us big grins. I love it when first thing in the morning we wake up together and he looks up and me and smiles- then crys b/c he is starving! He hasn't been so great about taking a bottle the few times we have tried it so here's hoping for Frank's sake that he figures it out quickly otherwise Daddy is going to have a rough weekend. He's already trying to sit up- not at all sucessfully of course- but he keeps trying to pull himself more upright whenever you are sitting with him. I'm not ready for another early walker but I'm not sure with Xander as an example that James will be content to just sit aorund- he's going to need to learn to get out of the way of the older brother! He has finally found his hands though. He still own't take a paci but had taken to sucking on his index and middle finger. It doeasn't work when he gets really t'd off but at least he is able to self soothe a bit. I'm working on getting him to nap in the crib b/c I'm guessing we'll try to transition to the crib at night fairly soon.


Xander is getting so grown up... we had his 18 month photos taken last week and he looks like a little boy instead of a baby. I was looking at his 12 montha nd 18 month photos side by side and realizing that my oldest baby isn't really a baby any more. He running around and climbing comnstantly and pretty soon I swear he is going to just spit out full sentances. He is saying a few words now but he babbles on and on like he is ahving a conversation with you and gets very upset when you don't understand. he does a lot of pointing and saying see and this- although I am not sure he actually means see and this when he is pointing. He is saying ball very consistently now (and insistently) and yesterday I think we mastered the concept of more but he hasn't got it down consistently. Da da he has had for awhile but he finally managed ma ma and of course every morning Hi James! I can't tell if he totally adores his baby brother or if he is just keeping his enemies close!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

My sweet boys...


When Xander isn't trying to sit on James, smother him or steal his socks (which he had already gotten one by the time I took this picture) he really does love his little brother. James was sitting on the couch and Xan climbed right up to give him a hug!