Thursday, June 30, 2016

Life Happenings

We have been pretty busy around here lately…having fun!

Last week we were invited to the beach with some new friends
to celebrate the first day of summer break!
Jaxen did not hesitate one bit, getting in the water - and had a blast!
In fact, we stayed for a little over 5 hours, because the kids were having so much fun :)





While Jaxen swam and played his little heart out -
Zane slept. The entire time actually.
Well, he woke once to eat and then went right back to sleep!


 It was so nice for them to invite us.
It’s always a process to make new friends - but so far, so good!
In fact, we had another play date today with a different family and it went well too.


 After the beach, both boys were a sandy, sweaty mess - so I put them in the bath together.
This was a first.
Jaxen loved that Zane was there to “play” with him.
Basically, Jaxen poured water over his belly and made all his bath toys talk to him.
They had a great time and I’m sure there will be many more ‘brother baths’ to come!




 I pretty much cannot get over how cute this boy is!



And this boy is pretty cute too...
even in his tennis shoes (no socks), spiderman undies, ninja turtle pajama top and blowing bubbles!


 Zane loves him some Daddy time!





 Jaxen’s Sunday School class, from Watertown, sent Jaxen a message this week.
“Hi Jaxen”
They are so precious and so thoughtful!


And this past Monday was my birthday!
35.
No comments.
I’m still processing!


On my birthday, we headed back to Watertown.
That evening, Nik needed to be at our old church to help run the Soccer Camp.
(Just the first night of it).
So we made a day out of it.

Which meant, we ran a lot of errands!
We had to close bank accounts, drop off paperwork at the dentist for them to sign,
purchase things (in bulk) at Sam’s, make some returns….

so I asked Tammi if she would watch Jaxen while we ran errands.
She agreed and he had the best time with her and Matthew (and their pool)!



He also got to see his friend, Clay.

All the while…Nik and I got to hang out with this guy while running our errands…


I was trying to get him to smile while taking a selfie with me.
Fail.




 We eventually got to hang out at Tammi’s too :)
And then we headed to Soccer Camp...


Do you see why Jaxen loves Matthew?! Haha!

After Soccer Camp we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Sonic
with some friends and a very yummy cake that Michelle made for me!!!

My day had all the makings for a great birthday:
a road trip; a nice quiet lunch with Nik (Zane slept); 
a fun time with great friends; good food; and a cake!

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Jaxen - Four Year Checkup

Jaxen also had a well-check last week…


He weighed in at 37.8 pounds and is 41 inches tall (both of which are in the 50% for boys his age).
He is a healthy, growing boy!


Sleeping:
Jaxen sleeps through the night with no trouble.
We usually put him to bed around 8pm - but then he plays for awhile until he goes to sleep.
I still make him have nap time each day (he will sleep for 1-1 1/2 hours),
but I’m thinking that we are going to drop that soon.
The past two weeks we have skipped nap a few days, and he does ok. Not great.
I will hold on to it for awhile longer, but it will probably end up being more “quiet time” than “nap”.

One afternoon, this is how I found him during nap time!

Eating:
We are having a bit of trouble with his eating (and have been for awhile).
He is pretty picky, and it takes him forever to eat a meal.
I’m talking…
sitting at the table for about an hour, telling him to take a bite after bite, the whole time.
Not fun!
I’m getting super strict about meal time, and it is getting slightly better :)

Clothes:
Jaxen is wearing mostly 4T and 5T shirts.
Pants are 4T and shorts vary.
He is still fitting into a few 2T, and I recently bought him 4T - and they are too big!
He is in a size 9 shoe.


Jaxen has settled into our new house well.
One of his favorite activities right now is playing “water” (above).
Sometimes when I am nursing Zane I will let him fill up all of Zanes bottles with water
at the kitchen sink and then he has the best time pouring the water into other containers,
and pretending. It’s pretty cute to watch and keeps him occupied!

Another favorite is bubbles!
We play bubbles out back, multiple times a day.
And I even let him go out alone a few times (with me checking on him often).

A few funny things:
He woke up last week and was coughing and said to me “I have allergies. Need to see doctor!"

One day after lunch, Jaxen was having the last piece of chocolate cake and 
Nik had a piece of dark chocolate. 
Jaxen wanted a bite of Nik’s chocolate so Nik told him if he could have a bite of cake, 
Jaxen could have a bite of his chocolate. 
So Jaxen gave Nik a bite of cake. 
When Nik handed Jaxen his dark chocolate, Jaxen stuck the whole piece in his mouth - 
smiled and ate it!  It was so funny!

Jaxen informed us the the other day that he was not longer calling us “mommy daddy”
but instead, he was going to call us “mom dad”.
It cracked us up!


Feeding the fish.


I was reading an article the other day about how 4 is the best age.
Maybe. That has yet to be determined :) Haha!
We do have our struggles with Jaxen.
Most of which are probably pretty normal (being too loud, too rough, not listening…)
but I do see the fun side of 4….. 
His imagination, the conversations we have, his energy, 
how he wants to help and try everything and be independent...

He is really a great kid.
I love him so much.

The transition of moving and having a new baby brother have been a lot for him,
but he is hanging in there and I’m so proud of him.
I am proud of how he has grown this past year, in so many ways….
Especially with his speech.
He still struggles sometimes and even told me last week 
“I don’t know how to say it" (and he was very frustrated) which hurt my heart, 
but also made me proud that he could communicate that!

He has grown in so many other ways as well.
A big one has been socially.
I love watching him interact in social situations.
He loves having friends and being involved in things and really listens and obeys in group settings!

We have registered him for pre-k this fall.
And he will (hopefully) start speech therapy again in July, and it 
will continue on during the school year as well.

Four is a big year for this kid! And whether or not I am ready…here it comes!


Thursday, June 23, 2016

Zane - Two Month Check-up

Today we had Zane’s two month checkup with our new pediatrician.
I really like her and he did great during the checkup!


He weighs 12 lbs and 12 oz; and is 23 1/2 inches long.
He is around the 50% for height and weight, but his head is only in the 23%.


He is a healthy, growing boy and there are no concerns with him!



Other news about Zane at two months of age:

Sleep: 
Zane naps 3-4 times during the day.
At night, he will sleep between 4-6 hours once I put him down (usually around 10 or 11pm)
and then after waking to eat, he will usually sleep for about 2 more.

And…he is finally in his crib!
He does pretty well too! 

Eating:
He eats all the time. Seriously.
I feed him on average, 9 times a day, for about 25 minutes each time.
Once he is in his crib to sleep, he will wake one time to eat, 
and then sleeps normally two more hours, before waking to eat again. 
After that - he just eats all day :)

We finally pulled out our high chair!
He enjoys reclining in it, when we are all in the kitchen.

Bathtime:
This little boy loves his bath!
And he loves when I massage lotion or oil on him afterward.

Clothes:
He is basically in 3 month clothes. 
Every week I find something that he outgrows.

Thankfully, I tried this little outfit on him today, from when Nik was a baby!
I don’t know that he will be able to wear it much longer!
But look how adorable he is, in it :)

And for grins… a pic of Nik in it as a baby!

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch in Sodus Point, 
overlooking the water and boats before heading back home after our appointment.

Zane is such a joy!
He is smiling, and cooing and even starting to laugh!
I just love him to pieces and I can’t imagine my days without this precious boy.


Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Home Tour - Outside

We have received many questions regarding our new home here in Wolcott. So I thought I would give you a home tour through this blog! And since I still have boxes everywhere inside, I’ll start our tour with the outside... 


Welcome to our new home!

This is the very front.

Off to the right you have one porch...

Then another…

And then another entrance and a single car garage.

These next two pictures show you the whole right side a bit better.


And on around, to the right.

Then on the left side we have some nice trees and landscaping.

As you round the left side of the house you come to our backyard,
with a gigantic tree and our deck.

There is a little sandbox (turtle) to the left of the tree and a swing that hangs from it (behind).
Pretty soon we will hang a swing for Zane on this tree too!

And here is our deck.
Looking out to the backyard.

And looking to the house.

To the left of the deck we have a concrete slab where all of Jaxen’s outside toys are stored.
(Sorry for the major shadows).

Here are pictures of the back of the house and our backyard.


And another tree. They are beautiful now, and will be this fall.
But I’m dreading the amount of leaves that we will have to take care of! Haha!


You may or may not be able to tell, but here are few other things about our house:
We have neighbors on both sides - but they are not super close to us. 
There are no houses behind us, which I love.
Across the street from us, is some kind of business.
We live on a main street in town, so I’m thankful for the big, fenced-in backyard.
We are about 10 minutes from the church.

So this is where we now call home.
We are very thankful for this home that is provided for us!

Stay tuned for more of our home… !