Happy 4th of July!

 we took some super cute pics of Xander for the 4th of July.  Nothing really special in particular other than the adorable subject!  I know its a bunch of photos, but I couldnt pick my favorites, so here you go.....

playing in the pool

 Arizona is so dang hot in the summer!  Thankfully we have some wonderful friends and family members with a pool, that let us enjoy the cool water and soak up the rays!  Here are some pics of Xanders first two experiences in the pool.  He really wasnt too sure about it, but when he was in his little floaty raft, he seemed to relax and really enjoy it!  Im sure he will be a water rat in no time!   In the mean time, he is so stinkin cute in his little swim outfits!  Loving having a sweet little boy to share these experiences with.  Too much fun!

Happy Fathers Day!

Honestly, Fathers Day has been one of the hardest days dealing with the loss of the twins.  It has been especially tough for me, and even tougher than Mothers Day because of the guilt I felt in not being able to provide Eldon was a child to love, since I knew he would be such an amazing father.  This year was wonderful, and we were so grateful to have Xander to bring the joy to the holiday and to give us something to celebrate!    Because its traditional, I just couldnt resist getting Eldon a tie for Fathers Day, but because it was so cute, I had to get Xander a matching one!  Dont they look handsome!

Eldon also was gifted with a new Xbox controller and some yummy treats including these cute little coke bottles.

We hope that Eldon had a wonderful fathers day!  We also hope that all the father's in our lives..... my father, Eldon's father, our siblings, uncles, etc. all have a wonderful fathers day.  We also want to send a special shout out to our hero.... Xander's birth father, Chris.  We are so grateful for the choices he made to support us in the placement of Xander.  We feel very lucky to have him in our lives, and in Xanders.  What a blessing!  

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!!

Xander's got the swing of it

Xander is just starting a really cute stage, where he is starting to want to be entertained.  His neck and body are really strong, so he is able to start enjoying some of his toys.  His first time in his Johnny Jumper was pretty cute.  He didnt quite get the jumpy part, but enjoyed just hanging around any way.   Isnt he adorable?!?!?!?!  We definitely think so!  Enjoy!

Eldon tried swinging him around, and he seemed to really enjoy that part as well.  Im sure he will have fun with the swing set once he is older.  Too much fun!!!

And the peanut is......

A BOY!!!!  Yep, apparently that is the mold we make! Lol!  We are very excited that this little man was not shy and didnt make us wait long to learn the gender.  The ultrasound tech was cute and instead of writing boy, she automatically wrote brother.  We thought that was very cute, and we are so excited that Xander will have a little brother to play with.  We hope they will be so close and will be the best of friends! Cant wait to meet this new little one, but hope he stays in a long time and bakes just right!  Here is to keeping our fingers, toes, and eyes crossed that everything will continue to go smooth and all will be healthy!

What a Fun Sunday

Today began with a Handsome little boy in his new suit!!! I just couldnt resist getting this for him and he looks so GQ!!  I know he doesnt look super happy, but this pic was taken after 3 hours of church.... he was ready to get out it!  LOL!

After church, Xander got a big treat.... food!  Our little chubby monkey got to try his first bites of real food.  Of course, he loved it!  It took him a minute to get the hang of swallowing something that wasnt liquid, but eventually he was doing great and getting more of the spoonfuls into his mouth rather than on his face.  :)  It was adorable, of course!  Love him!  He is just so much fun!

4 Months Old

                           Xander is already 4 months old!  We just cant believe it, already 4 months!!

Stats: 

Height: 25 3/4 Inches 75%

Weight: 16 1/2 pounds 75%

He is our chunky monkey and we simply adore him!!! He is just so much to have around and has really brighten our lives!  He is close to rolling over, but not quite there yet.  He is much more motivated to sit up so he can see everything.  When he is on his tummy during tummy time, he also seems much more motivated to crawl and chase the dog rather than roller over on his back.  Im sure it wont be long before he is mobile.  He wants to chase the dog and get his toys really bad!   Its just plain adorable!   

Xander is also starting to pay attention to his toys.  Because he has gained much better trunk control, he can now enjoy toys like this exer-saucer.  He isnt big enough to reach everything and needs some blankets in there to fill up the spaces that he doesnt yet consume, but he is really enjoying being up right, so he can see the world around him.  

                                         His little personality is really starting to shine through as well.  He is quite smiley and giggling and is cooing and "talking" all the time.  He is especially happy when he wakes up and when he is around his daddy!  Because Eldon spends so much time with him during the day, they have become great pals!  Its really cute!  

He also has reached quite a big achievement..... TEETH!  His pediatrician says we win the award for youngest baby with teeth!~  Xander got 2 teeth right around 3 1/2 months.  They are now fully in and his toothy grin is beyond adorable....and slobbery... lol!  Its hard to catch on film, so we will work on getting that picture for future posts but in the mean time, take my word for it.

Peanut Update

So just a quickly update on the new little peanut.  I am now 12 weeks, which is nice to reach.  This is officially the furthest pregnancy for a singleton baby, which is quite happy!  We just had our ultrasound checking for specific body parts (i.e. 4 chambers to the heart, 2 parts of the brain, 2 legs, 2 arms, stomach, bladder...etc) and everything looks really good.  We thought for a moment that we might find out the gender, but from one angle the tech said it definitely looked like a girl and from another angle, definitely a boy, so we will continue to wait and see if we get to know in another month.  Because this pregnancy is so high risk, I get to have either a heartbeat check, or ultrasound every 2 weeks.  It's alot of appointments which is a pain, but it is so nice to not have to wait a long time and wonder in between if something may be going wrong.

In the meantime, I got some interesting news about me.... I have been feeling just absolutely exhausted lately!  I assumed it was a normal part of the joys of pregnancy added on top of the joys of being a mother to a newborn and just having recently returned back to work to boot.  Well, turns out, that there is a bigger explanation for it. Apparently, I have a disorder called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  The diagnosis comes because the mono virus (which I have had like 10 times in my life) currently has flared up along with some other virus I had never heard of, nor knew I had.  Together it means pretty much... I am exhausted!  I do feel very blessed though that I have a job where I can sit at a desk and relax rather than be up and about.  When I googled this disorder, I found that less than 1/5 of people with this disorder are able to work full time!!!  That is huge!  So many are only able to work part time or are on disability all together because this disorder is so debilitating!  After work, I am incredibly spent and it takes all remaining energy to rock Xander to sleep at night if I am lucky, But I am so very grateful that I can continue to work and provide financially for our family and I am even more grateful that I have such an amazing husband who has stepped in to fill all the gaps where I am lacking and who is taking such good care of Xander, both during the day while I am at work, and at night when I just so tired!  He truly is amazing and does it without even complaining! Despite the hardships right, I definitely can still see the Lord providing for us and I am so very grateful for those blessings!