Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Behind...

Do you ever feel that you cannot get ahead of the game? I'm sure most of you do. That is where I have been the last few days. Reeling from behind, trying to catch up.

But -

When my little guy was not feeling well yesterday, I laid down with him for his nap and cuddled him and brushed the hair from his face and gave him kisses as he woke up many times from restless sleep. He is having a hard time with allergies right now. And teething. Two new bottom teeth popped through. I think he is better today, but he was just sluggish all day yesterday.

And -

Since the weather is absolutely perfect, Jaxen and I took advantage last night sitting outside until past dark. Playing, cuddling, talking with the many neighbors who were outside as well. It was fun and relaxing and in those moments it did not matter that I was behind.

I hope that you can find those moments as well.


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Sprinkler spotted.

Checking back to see what I'm up to.

Landed!

Going in for it.

It got him!

He loved playing in the sprinkler!


Thursday, April 25, 2013

Kiss Face

Greetings from Houston!

We are here for our District Meetings this week. 

Jaxen has been so good for us while we stay at a hotel and are in meetings all day.
He went to the nursery this morning, then his great-aunt Pam came and
rescued him this afternoon. I think they had fun!

I had to pull him out of the nursery during service tonight, though. 
He was just tired. So we hung out and I got some Jaxen-love.

Speaking of Jaxen-love....


He sends kisses your way!


This is the new face he makes.

And I am totally digging it!

I think it is the cutest thing, ever!


And now I'm off to bed. Just wanted to share these pictures with you.

We have another long day tomorrow. 

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Updates & Pics

This weekend we had a quick 48 hours spent with some very dear friends, Rusty and Diane. They were special speakers at our church and in between services we crammed in as much bonding and catching up as we could. And I did not get any pictures with them. I cannot believe it!

It was so great to see them and they got to meet Jaxen for the first time - it was mutual love!

So instead of pictures from this past weekend, you get some pictures from the past couple of weeks....

We had a another friend visiting a couple of weeks ago
who got to meet Jaxen for the first time, also!
She moved to New York the Saturday before Jaxen was born. 
She loved on him, and he eventually warmed up to her!

When Jaxen goes down at night - he has been sleeping in this position lately...
on his belly, legs tucked under him and butt raised. It is pretty cute!

Can you just see the mischief in his eyes?!

He is fascinated with our front door...
opening, closing, opening, closing...!

And...The Lorax...
He watches at least a part of the movie every day!


At Lowes last weekend. 
Nik is teaching him at a young age...!

Last weekend was beautiful - which calls for nights on the front lawn,
playing Boccee ball and hanging out with Jaxen!


Drink break!
This boy loves water and tea (decaf, unsweetened).

Playing outside, in the sprinkler.
Yes, only a shirt and a diaper. That is how we roll!
 
That is all for now!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Jaxen - Haircut


Okay, before I start this post I need to explain....

Well, let me just put it out there... I CUT JAXEN'S HAIR.

No, I did not take him to get it cut... I did it!

I am always looking for ways to save money. One day, while on Pinterest, I saw a "How to cut boys hair". So I pinned it and read it. I was then convinced I could do it. I mean, if I read it on the internet... surely I could do it, right?!

I have been waiting for the right time to do it. You know, when Jaxen is calmed and entertained and when Nik is home to help me.

I'm not the best at timing. Nik was gone one afternoon and I wanted a project. Most of my projects cost money so I was trying to steer clear of those. And as I was playing with Jaxen I just kept looking at his hair and it had seriously gotten long and almost-out-of-control.

Side-note: I have trimmed it before (around ears and at his neck when it got long enough to curl up.)

I then decided to cut it. Not trim it. Just the way Pinterest told me to. I did it one afternoon, by myself, while Jaxen was a little tired and not so calm. We started outside and then inside, in front of the TV. Let me just preface this with JAXEN WAS NOT CALM OR STILL. I cut his hair while he was moving the entire time!

Okay - now on to the pics....

The top. It's actually not that bad. 
I think I did pretty good here. 

From the front. A little short.
Everytime I would get in front of Jaxen to work on the front,
he would move because I was blocking his view of the TV. So, 
I cut the front, from behind him. It's as good as it was going to get!

The side. It's a doosey. Not too good.
I took it a bit short above the ears on both sides. 
And he looks a little funny!

I have had one person tell me they will donate money for Jaxen's next haircut (from a professional). Ha!  I'm not going to take him up on the offer...yet.

Nik said "Thanks for trying to save money - but we'll work it out where we can afford to get his hair cut!"

And there you have it. Jaxen's first haircut!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Nik - Sermon

Happy Monday! I know most of you probably do not like Mondays....but I do - It's my day off!

And so far I have had a great day. Slept in (until 8am); been doing some laundry; some cleaning; went to a consultation about having 2 of my wisdom teeth pulled (not fun); bought Jaxen a bigger car seat (also, not fun); and now...blogging.

Jaxen has had a good day as well. He took a good 2 hour nap this morning and is working on 3 hours this afternoon. I cannot believe it. He never sleeps that long! I have checked on him a couple of times to make sure he is breathing. He is! (And his breathes are the sweetest thing!). I think he is just worn out from yesterday. It was a long day at church. We were there about 8 hours all together. Which makes for a worn out baby (who did not get his naps)!

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I know that some of you like to hear Nik's sermons when he preaches (in what we still call) "Big Church".

Nik preached 2 Sundays ago. If you would like to take a listen, here it is....

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17270784/01%20Nik%20Preaching.m4a

Friday, April 12, 2013

Jaxen - 10 Months

Happy 10 Months, Jaxen!


Month 10... Jaxen has mastered crawling and walking with-touching-something-for-support and babbling and getting off the couch/bed on his own and eating rocks/leaves/grass and throwing things and making clicking-sounds with his tongue and feeding himself. I'm sure there are more things that he has now matstered...but those are the ones that come to mind!


He is a mover. Constantly moving, touching (throwing) something/anything. Non-stop. It's a fun stage to watch him grow and learn and start to really comprehend things. But it's not so fun now that he is quick and into everything (just yesterday, Nik had to clean up broken glass...).



But watching him learn and understand and do new things that we didn't know he knew how to do is so much fun. Last week, Jaxen was napping in our bed. I put a tower of pillows around him so he could not fall off the bed if he woke up. I was thinking when he woke up, he would start crying to get down and I would go get him off the bed. Well, while Nik and I were talking in the living room I heard Jaxen moving. I asked Nik to go see if he was awake...as Nik walked into the room - Jaxen met him at the door! He woke up, pulled his covers off, went around the mountain of pillows and got himself off the bed, and was crawling into the living room! Thankfully, the next day we saw him get of the bed on his own and saw how he had done it. Smart boy. Amazes me all the time.



He talks (babbles) all the time. And gets very serious while doing it. Sometimes he even points his finger while talking (not sure who he got that from!). He can play by himself so well, but still sometimes just likes to know we are in the same room with him. We still cannot go wrong with The Lorax. I have tried other shows and movies - and The Lorax still ranks as number one.

And he loves being outside. This is a picture post afternoon-outside. Bottle and wet clothes. Fun times!



He eats 3 (pretty) solid meals a day and takes 2 snacks and a bottle before bed. He loves to feed himself, but I don't like the mess he makes. So we compromise. I let him feed himself 'easy' food and I spoon-feed him 'messy' food. Win-win. Most days. I am trying new food with him all the time. He loves lots of flavor and is pretty good at all different textures.



He is in 12-18 month clothes, size 4 diaper and size 3 or 4 shoe. We don't really put shoes on him often (actually, probably less than 10 times) but now that he is walking - I will start trying to put more on him.


Jaxen loves to brush his teeth, play in the bath (or any water), be outside, thrown in the air... you know, all the fun stuff!



I know I say this all the time....but he is amazing. I thank God for giving me Jaxen. He was made just for us and I am so grateful. He is a joy. A blessing. I still hold him for too long at night before bed and go check on him while he is sleeping and let him take naps with me and hold his bottle for him when he is tired....and I try to not take any of it for granted.


Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Marriage Talk

Nik and I have been having a conversation here lately about our time. We have decided that we don't spend enough time together (just the two of us) doing fun stuff. The time we do spend together is usually playing with Jaxen, doing chores, running errands (actually Nik and I plan to run errands one afternoon a week while Jaxen is sleeping just so we can spend some time together and talk) or spent with other people. All of which, are not bad. However, we are discovering that it is also not good to not have fun together either.

It is hard on a couple. Especially having a baby in the mix. All my energy seems to be poured into my job each day and then when I get home, poured into our home and into Jaxen. And what is left...Nik gets. He normally gets a tired, overwhelmed wife. Not fun.

And this is not all the time (thankfully), but it is becoming more and more. The time Nik and I do get to talk (between phone calls, texts, and in the middle of cooking dinner and entertaining Jaxen) we are discussing work, church, meetings we have had, who is in the hospital, updating each other on people we have talked to....and so forth. Not a lot of time is spent talking to each other. On a personal level. If that makes sense.

I say all that to say: We are working on our marrige. Constantly. Sometimes it is easy and sometimes it is not.

Having Jaxen has been incredible. But - we are going to leave Jaxen a bit more, to focus on us. And to have fun. Date nights! And that will make for a better marriage, and I do believe, better parents.
 
I am so thankful for Nik in my life - 
For the outstanding job he does of being a husband and a father!

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Steps - Video

Jaxen now takes steps without holding on to anything! Multiple steps. Then he realizes it and sits down or grabs a hold of something.

So does that count as walking? Not sure. However, this video posted below was from Thursday. He now 'walks' distances. We're talking feet, people!

Anyway - enjoy this video!





Thursday, April 4, 2013

iPhone Dump

Nik and/or I have taken many photos (mostly of Jaxen) on his iphone and I hardly ever share them. Therefore, this blog post is of pictures off of Nik's phone and rightly so, named "iPhone Dump". These are random, and posted in order...

Enjoy!


Sporting a Sam Houston State University hat that was stolen off of Q's head.

Sun setting behind us as we are driving.


Nik and Jaxen watching TV (in matching outfits - not planned).

I think I was talking...but Jaxen looks cute!

He found the toilet paper!

Sitting on the counter with K, playing with water turned into....
Sitting in the sink (shirt and diaper on) playing in the water!

Which turned into...
drinking the water and turned into...

Bathtime! Might as well, right?!

Grocery shopping.
(People - aka Germ Freaks - please don't freak out that Jaxen
is in the shopping cart with no cart-cover. I forgot it at home. It
is now back in the car, and I will try not to forget it again). 

Brushing his teeth. And playing with shaving cream (just the container).
 
And that's the iPhone Dump Post! Exciting, huh? Told you it was mainly pictures of Jaxen!
 
One day, I will blog again with more words, sentences and paragraphs. One day. 

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Easter!

Well, Jaxen was a pro at Easter Egg Hunting.
I knew he would be. Especially since we practiced!

Jaxen, all ready to go!

Nik and Jaxen before the hunt.

All the kids, lined up and ready to go!

Jaxen, at his first "real" (not practice) Easter Egg Hunt!

Watching everyone else.

And then he was DONE.

And now he is happy, eating his plastic eggs!

We did not get a family picture that day,
but we did take a few cute ones of Jaxen after the hunt.

Jaxen and his friend, Halley.

Jaxen was wiped out after all the fun!


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His Easter Basket

Jaxen and I on Easter morning

 Nik and Jaxen on Easter morning