milestones...

James almost rolled over today- he was so darned close. He made it literally 3/4 of the way to his belly from his back and then he got hung up on the leg of the floor gym. It won't be much longer.... In some ways I am happy that he is growing and changing but in others ways this is one of my favorite ages and I don't want it to pass by too fast. He is so interactive and talkative these days- smiling and cooing at you but if you put him down he stays!!!!! And they love to cuddle at this age- they just snuggle into you and are happily content to just sit in your lap and be held. As they get older they get so wiggly. I love it when Xander comes and voluntarily gives me cuddles but it doesn't happen that often and of as often as not a hug comes with some wrestling and head butting. James is still content to just snuggle in my arms and let me breathe in his happy baby smell.

So my mom ventured off to swim class and music class with the boys this week and everyone survived thank goodness. I think Xander must be a bit more unsure with my mom b/c she said he was quiet and stayed quietly in her arms during swim class... so either he was tired this week or he just likes to push my buttons! crazy little demon child that he is.... OR my mom could just blantantly be lying to me so I don't feel bad! Music class also went well according to mom and it must have been mostly ok b/c then she took the boys all the way back to Durham to go and visit Pop! The day before when she asked if I minded if she took them (b/c it meant they wouldn't get home till very late and with James and the breastfeeding that can sometimes be a challenge although he does seem to be getting better about taking a bottle) I told her she was more than welcome to take them wherever she wanted as long as she didn't complain to me afterwards! And all I got was glowing reports of how good they were so yeah for my good little boys! Of course we had to dynamnite Nan out of bed this morning so it must have been an exhausting day!

The nice thing about her takign the boys though was it meant that Frank and I got to hang out after work just the 2 of us. We were somewhat sad and pathetic and spent our quiet/alone time watching a movie, eating pizza, and going to bed early! Of course once James got home he decided he was hungry and wanted to play but he is bound to have nights when he doesn't sleep well. I'm working a lot this week- including days tues and wed hence the hanging out after work with my husband- it is kind of a novel concept for us- so thank goodness mom was able to come and babysit b/c I hate to consider the daycare bill if we didn't have her to help us out. Thanks You MOM!

When toddlers dress themselves....

I'm sorry but you just have to love it when your little one comes up to you having taken his shirt off, and put on cowboy boots and his winter hat! I don't what Xander's current fascination with shoes is but he is developing quite the little shoe fetish. He is constantly coming to me with different shoes, his, mine, Frank's- it doesn't really matter whose shoes he has but he wants to put them on- and he doesn't seem to mind who he puts them on either! I thought it was partcularly hilarious when he wanted to put his little rubber boots on my feet- and even better when he managed to actually get them on my feet at least part of the way! He likes his boots the best- now whether it is actually the boots or the fact that he can mostly put them on by himself I am not quite sure.. but he definitely loves his boots. And he also seems to enjoy taking off his shirt as well. He hasn't quite managed to get his pants off by himself yet but I don't think it will be much longer.

Swim class!

Hey I made it to 100 posts! pretty cool...

So Tues I took Xander to swim class at the YMCA. We dropped James off with Frank at work first(his office is practically next door to the Y) and then headed on over. Xander went to the child watch for an hour so I could take an exercise class (it kicked my butt and I am seriously sore now but I felt pretty good by the end of it). Anyway so after my class I picked him up and we headed to the dressing room to change into our suits- mistake #1. I got him all changed and the minute I had my shirt off to chnage into my suit he totally took off running. Mind oyu the family locker room doesn't actually have a door that shuts to it (who's brillant idea that was we'll never know..) it's just an open doorway so there I am trying to wiggle into my swim suit as fast as I can b/c Xander is escaping into the hallway. I got my top on and then ran after him and caught him just as he was heading down the stairs. Mistake #2 trying to put the rest o swimsuit on- apparently me changing without him running off was not going to be an option-although the second time I couldn't find him at first and I was starting to panic a bit when I realized he had my cell phone so I could hear the phone beeping as he pushed buttons...I finally tracked him down to the boys locker room, which was around the corner from the family locker room (also with no door...). Luckily there were no boys in there when I found him! So me all suited up, Xander all suited up we headed down to the pool.

So the swim instructer is going on and on about pool safety and easing the children into the water b/c they might be scared... meanwhile I am physically having to hold him back from jumping in. So we finally get into the pool and all the hassle of getting there was totally wiped away by the giant grin on his face when he realized he could kick around and float. He still isn't reall keen on floating on his back but he thought the noodle was the greatest thing ever and was also pretty intrigued with the kickboard. This class that he is in is really a water adjustment class than an actual swim class- to get the kids comfortable in the water but I think he is going to be ready for much more before long so hopefully she will be able to help us with kicking and paddling as well as just getting used to the water.

So after the 30 minutes of fun in the pool we were left with showering and getting redressed- another battle of sorts. I think it took us longer to get ready to go than the entire time we spent in the pool! Xander does not like the shower and then I stupidly forgot to bring the baby soap so both our eyes were burning but I was all sweaty and nasty from my exercise class so I had to soap off at least a little. Thankfully the shower room actually had a door! I'm not sure who was more tired after the whole thing- me or Xander. Anyway we finally got all dressed and ready to go so we went and picked up James, had lunch with Frank and headed home. luckily both boys fell asleep on the car ride home and we all had a nice long nap when we got home. But how sad is it that my entire day was taken up with a workout, swim class, lunch and a nap! By the time we got up from our nap I had to start on dinner...

Next week I have to work tues so Nan gets to take him to swim class- maybe he will be better behaved for her!

Happy New Year!

and then they all came crashing down...

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.

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!