Favorite Activities

Jaxens favorite activities right now include:

Golfing! Well, actually, just playing with the golf clubs. He throws the balls and then uses the clubs as drum sticks. Of course.

Sweeping! Anytime I sweep (inside or out) Jaxen thinks that he has to as well. What he really does is just mess up the pile I have already swept! But that is okay. It's never too early to start learning some chores, right?!

Rocking! He loves to sit in his rocker and rock. Then get down. Repeat. So much entertainment from this chair that was given to me by a sweet co-worker!

Sleeping! I don't really know if this is a favorite activity of Jaxens or a favorite activity of mine... I'll just include it and say it is both!

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Tonight Nik is at church for the last night of Revival Services. We have had an incredible speaker  and the services have been really good and challenging. I am at home with Jaxen (who is sleeping) because it was just that kind of night... Grumpy, tired, would not eat dinner and to top it all off - he has the worst diaper rash he has had in a long time. While I was changing his diaper at the church he just started screaming because it hurt so bad. Poor baby. I'm not going to leave him in the nursery when he is hurting that bad. So we came home. It took a long time to calm him down but I finally did and now he is sleeping. It's too late for a nap, and too early for bedtime so we will see what the night holds for us.

I am glad to have some time at home. There are many things that need my attention (since we have been gone every night this week) but mostly, I'm glad to be home and take care of Jaxen. Sometimes he just needs his momma and his home!

Nik is Better

Nik is doing better! He ended up having a fever most of the weekend and it finally broke last night. He stayed home today to finish recouping. He has no energy, but is not nearly as sick as he was. I think a few more days and he will fell like himself again!

While he was sick (and quarantined to our bedroom) I got a lot accomplished! First, I took care of Jaxen (which is a task in itself!), but during his nap on Saturday I made a fall wreath. I told you I was in a "Fall" mood. I got out the few of my fall decorations and then Jaxen and I went shopping Saturday morning. Actually, we didn't shop much. Just looked. I was looking for a fall wreath....man, they are expensive! I could not even find one that I liked that was not at least $50. So I hopped on Pinterest and found one I liked, bought the stuff and made it!

My original pin from Pinterest:

http://pinterest.com/pin/513410426241271138/

And my wreath:

And this wreath was less than $13! I'm not very 'crafty' so I was pretty proud of my wreath! It is now hanging and looking like fall (in our house at least). Come on, Fall, get here soon!!!

And I cleaned out my spices cabinet:

This cabinet was a mess! And have you ever looked at the expiration date on your spices? Just sayin'...you might want to.

I think those were all the 'projects' I did...Oh, I almost painted my dining room last night. Had I had a bit more energy, it would have been done. That's what I do when Nik is quarantined or out of town - I change everything. 

I am now washing sheets and disinfecting everything from "The Infector" (my pet nickname for Nik the last few days - Ha!). Nik and Jaxen are spending some time together eating goldfish on the couch. They are each very happy to have the other back!

Friday Happenings

Nik is sick. (Ha - that rhymes!). Very sick. It started yesterday morning when he woke up with a little of a sore throat...and by bedtime it had hit him hard. Today he is in one of two places - the couch or bed. And doing very little in between the two. He has been resting most of the day today, recovering from a bad night of very little sleep.

I went to work for about 2 hours this morning and then came home to handle Jaxen (so Nik did not have to). After Jaxen went down for his afternoon nap, I went back to work for a few more hours. I am now done with work and focusing on taking care of my two boys.

I have to admit....last night when Nik told me he did not feel good I was upset. I was mad because this was our first free weekend in forever and I had big plans. To do stuff and have fun and relax. I admitted to Nik my selfish thoughts (please don't tell me I'm the only one who has those thoughts) and I think I made him feel bad. I know it's not his fault for being sick, and he can't help it, and would probably love to feel better...but they were still my thoughts.

Since then....I'm kind of loving this low-key day at home with my two cutie-pies (even if one is sick). I'm trying to take good care of Nik and spend some good quality time with Jaxen. I am so grateful that I can be at home to let Nik rest and to take care of Jaxen. Many people would have to suffer through sickness and carry on with life with little to no help. This 'free' weekend is a blessing!

And you know what I have been working on today? Cleaning out Jaxen's closet. (Isn't that what everyone does when they are stuck at home for a weekend?!) It needed it so bad. In one more week Jaxen starts Mothers Day Out. Even though it is not really "school" and it is only twice a week - In my mind the "school or fall" season kind of starts then. So I took out every piece of clothing / baby towel / baby blanket that no longer fits Jaxen or that we do not use and did one of three things: packed up for another use, put it in a sell/give-a-way box or tossed it in the trash. I then went through boxes of clothes that had been given to Jaxen that I have set aside because they were winter or too big for him and updated his clothes with the new ones. His drawer is now full of clothes that fit (or will fit soon)! It is a good feeling to have that accomplished!

Now that job is done...I'm itching for fall. Of course, it is still in the high 90's here and no sign of fall at all, but that will probably not stop me. I'm ready to go through my closet and pull out my fall/winter clothes, and get out the few fall decorations I have, and bake something fall-ish!

Are you ready for fall, or are you hanging on to the last little bit of summer?

Yesterday Jaxen hung on to every bit of summer....

Jaxen is now awake and both my boys are hungry...Dinner calls. I have to keep these boys well fed! Happy Friday!

Zerberts!

I finally caught Jaxen giving a zerbert to Nik the other day. It is so funny. I hope you enjoy this video!

Jaxen Update

For the record...this post has no pictures of Jaxen. Picture-taking has been a complete FAIL here lately! Life as a mom with a toddler is different than life as a mom with a baby. Just sayin'.

I realized the other day that it had been a long time since you received a 'Jaxen Update'. So here you go!

Age: 14 months

Weight: 24.2 lbs - ish

Food: He eats 3 solid meals a day and 1-2 snacks, with a cup of milk before bed. He is a really good eater and will eat most things. He has a hard time with beef and most pork. And he cannot have egg. At all, in anything. I read most labels on food, but messed up the other night. After he ate his meal, he was grazing on our dinner plates and ran across some ranch dressing. He dipped his spoon in it and started feeding himself ranch. And he LOVED it. So much. He was having the best time "eating" the ranch. I say it that way, because it's not like he got a lot of ranch in his system. But it was enough to make him break out in rashes on his face. We grabbed the bottle of ranch and yes, it has egg in it! Who knew? I sure did not know. I am learning still about this 'no egg' thing.

Clothes: He has stepped up into 18 month pajamas and shirts. But he is still holding steady in most pants at 12 months. He has gotten taller and thinner. Some of the shorts that used to fit him well, are too big now at his waist! I mainly keep him in shorts, tshirts and sandals because it is still so hot here, but I'm looking forward to dressing him in cute long-sleeved shirts, and sweaters...you know, winter clothes!

Sleep: He normally goes to bed between 9-9:30 each night. We do have the occasional nights where it is closer to 10pm. But even when that happens, he does really well still going to bed. I put him in his crib (awake) and he puts himself to sleep. More than not, he will wake up at least once through the night, crying, but within a few minutes he has put himself back to sleep! He usually wakes up around 7am. Sometimes later, sometimes earlier. Just depends. He still normally takes a morning nap (especially during the week when he is at home) and an afternoon nap. But I think he is transitioning out of the morning nap...he can go without one just fine (and takes a longer afternoon nap).

Talking: Jaxen knows a few words (hi, bye, momma, daddy) but does not use them very often. I'm starting to work with him some on his words...but I'm not worrying over it. He will talk when he is ready. But he does 'jabber' so much. He loves holding the phone to his ear. He will talk away...until someone on the other end starts talking - ha! Then he gets real quiet and stares at the phone. He also likes to talk in the car while Nik and I are talking. It is pretty cute. It's like he is giving his opinion on the situation too.

Toys: He still has many toys that he loves and plays with but his new favorite things to do are: throw a ball (he gets so excited to do that), play with gift bags (putting things in and taking them out), play with his sunglasses, and the very favorite is....to zerbert someone! It is so funny! He finally learned to zerbert (put your mouth on someone and blow to make the funny noise). He loves doing it to my legs, and it tickles! So it cracks me up, laughing - which makes him laugh....its a fun cycle!

Movies: Thankfully, we have moved on from The Lorax and loves any movie with bright colors and music! A movie (if needed) can entertain him for awhile (which is nice when we are trying to get ready in the morning!).

Mothers Day Out: He will start going to Mothers Day Out twice a week, the first week of September, from 9am-2pm. I'm really excited about him doing this. I know it will be good for him. He will learn lots of new things and make some friends! He is always so good when he goes to our church nursery and I believe it will be the same for Mothers Day Out.

This last month, Jaxen has learned so much. He now goes to the fridge when he is thirsty. He turns on his sound machine in his room before bedtime, when I grab his diaper bag he starts walking towards the door...just numerous things like that. He is growing and changing all the time. It is so good but sometimes hard as well. I enjoy these days but also look back and miss the baby-baby days.

So that is a summary of what Jaxen is up to these days. I know most of you who read this blog miss out  on the day-to-day things of our lives and so I hope this helps!

Weekend Happenings

Friday we spent our evening listening to our youth band play. Most Friday evenings in the summer Chick-fil-a has live music...and our youth band was asked to play! They did such a good job and it was fun to see them rockin' it out. 

Jaxen had fun playing with the toys they had setup for the kids!

Saturday was a day spent getting ready for a block party our church was hosting to celebrate the end of summer. It was an idea Nik had months ago and spent all summer coordinating and working on. It was a great success!

We had a VW car show, face painting, balloon animals, cotton candy, sno-cones, popcorn, free food, an exotic petting zoo, inflatables, live music, and lots of people and fun!!!!

Despite the heat, we had a great time! 

Sunday was another big day for us....

Months ago Nik and I felt God calling us to start a new adult Sunday School class. We talked and prayed about it and decided that we were going to do it, but it could not happen until the summer was over. Well, we had the 'End of Summer Bash' so there you go!

So Sunday we launched our new adult Sunday School class. I think it went over very well. We had 8 people and enjoyed looking at and discussing God's Word. 

For our class, I baked a Toasted Coconut Pound Cake. It was really good! And I had to take a picture of it because it turned out so pretty!

Sunday evening, when coming home from church Jaxen found my sunglasses. He was playing with them and when we went to pull him out of his car seat, Nik found him like this:

Wearing my sunglasses the exact way Nik wears his! I had to take a picture of them two!

Isn't that funny?! It is crazy how much Jaxen is learning, just by watching us!

Here is another example -

Jaxen put on Nik's shoes!

Last night Nik took a group from our church to a baseball game. It was another late night for him, but they had fun.

So that was basically our weekend. We are exhausted! Tonight we have been hanging out at the house relaxing and playing with Jaxen. I just have to say that there is no sweeter sound than your little one laughing! That is pretty much what we have been doing tonight - making Jaxen laugh!

Our Life

Jaxen and I are so happy to have Nik home this week! Even when Nik is gone only a couple of days...we really feel it. Monday, Nik could not go anywhere that Jaxen was not following him. Even when Nik went to the bathroom, Jaxen followed and cried at the door until Nik came out. It was pretty sweet.

After having Jaxen to myself for 3 days, I kind of enjoyed the fact that Jaxen wanted his dad! I even had to laugh out loud on Monday to this sight...

Nik was trying to pay bills and take care of some stuff online - but Jaxen would not let Nik set him down. So, Nik just worked with/through/around Jaxen. It made me laugh! I had no sympathy for Nik - Ha!

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By the way - I took Jaxen to the dentist Monday morning! His first time. He did great! He was very still during the x-rays. His teeth look good. They brushed them and put some vitamins on them, and then we were done. We go back in 6 months.

While we were there, they weighed him. He weighs 24.2 pounds. He has not gained much weight, but he is getting taller. Over the weekend, I noticed how most of his shirts no longer fit him. They are too small in the shoulders and too short. So yesterday I went out and bought him a few new shirts.

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Wednesday, I decided to take Jaxen to the splash pad in town. I have seen kids play at these parks and have the greatest time. I knew Jaxen would have so much fun. I actually have been feeling guilty that I have not taken him prior. So I loaded him up and off we went. I was so excited!

We got there and Jaxen would not play in the water! He just kept staring at it. I finally got him close enough to get wet and he did not enjoy it so much. So we spent time walking around it. I was thinking he would warm up to the idea.

He didn't! So we went to the park instead, and played! At least I don't have to feel guilty anymore for depriving him of this fun place - ha!

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One last story to leave you with today....

On my way to work this morning, I realized I forgot to put on my deodorant! Normally every morning, in the car, before I pull out of the garage... I smell my armpits. Yes I do. Seriously. It's just something I do....I guess to make sure I remembered my deodorant. I think this started when I first went back to work after having Jaxen. It was like once I sat in my car I finally had a minute of downtime. I would look at myself and make sure my hair was combed, that I put on mascara, had the proper work shoes/clothes on and that I remembered the deodorant. My brain was so scattered it was like a last minute check list. I don't check myself over that closely anymore...but for some reason, I still smell my arm pits.

I didn't do it this morning - and half way to work I realized I forgot to put on deodorant!!! So I stopped at the grocery store on the way to work and bought some. And you know that the checker-outer person just knew I was not wearing deodorant. Seriously, when that is your only purchase at a grocery store at 7:45am?! Yeah, he knew. Oh well. At least I don't stink!

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Okay. One more thing. Long post, I know. I'm making up for my lack of blogging. And don't count on it getting better anytime soon. We have a super busy weekend and I still have yet to have a date night with my cutie husband. And we need one. Just saying.

But on with my last thing...

Nik sent me the following pictures at work this morning and I thought they were blogworthy!

Jaxen woke up really early this morning, so Nik got him and laid on the couch with him. Apparently he was pretty comfy!

THE END. FINALLY.