Zane - 9 Months

That smile and those eyes get me every time.

My baby is 9 months old.

With your first baby, everything is new and exciting and you have an amazing bond - 

because your first is what made you a momma.

With your second and/or last - I think you appreciate and treasure everything a bit more.

And I think because of that, another (different) special bond is created.

I am bonded to this little guy. He has my heart.

Our sweet Zane Russell is most commonly known as:

Zaney, Zaney-boo boo and Zaner.

I just can’t help but call him one of the above. And so does Jaxen.

We go to the doctor later this month and I will post his stats then.

Zane is getting better and better about eating food.

He is really into feeding himself (soft food)

but I worry about that…because he still only has 2 teeth.

So I basically feed him puree’s and let him chew on some soft food.

I still nurse him. And he likes to drink water from a sippy cup.

Zane is mostly in 9 month clothes. 

There are a few items that are 6 month that he still wears…but not many.

Zane loves to play with balls. He likes to throw them and then crawl to them.

He will do that all over our house, and it will entertain him probably more than any toy.

Other than that - he loves anything Jaxen has in his hands - haha!

He is a big fan of baths. Especially with his brother!

We are working on an earlier bedtime.

And once he is asleep he will mostly sleep through the nights.

He takes one morning nap a few hours after he wakes up, which will last 1-2 hours.

And then he will take one afternoon nap, which will last about 1 hour.

He will ‘cat  nap’ (for about 10 minutes) after dinner.

I’m trying to get rid of this cat nap…but sometimes it just happens!

This post is a little late…apparently I took a blogging break while we were away - haha!

We are home now…trying to adjust to the time difference and get back into our routine.

But I hope to catch back up on the blog again - stay tuned :)

Weekend Recap

Saturday morning started a bit late and lazy but ended with a friend from Jaxen’s school coming over to play! It was a short and sweet play date…just the way they are meant to be. Long enough to have fun, but short enough they don’t start fighting!

That afternoon we ran to a store about an hour away to pick up Nik’s birthday gift - boots! While there (since we drove an hour, and all) we looked around and had a bit of fun.

My two kids looked like this, the majority of our time there…

And I pretty much could not get over how adorable Zane looked in this hat!

 So we bought it for him! He will get a good 3-4 more months out of it.

 On the way home, we saw the best sunset. So pretty.

We ended the day with friends over to help us eat a huge roast I had cooking in the crockpot. We stayed up too late talking, but it was really fun!

Sunday we went to church; Nik had meeting afterward and then he took Jaxen to the movies. While they were gone, I got Zane down for a nap and napped myself! I fixed a quick dinner; gave the boys a bath; put Jaxen to bed and then when Nik got home, we settled in to watch the Golden Globes. I’m pretty sure we could have found something better to watch - haha! 

Currently - all the laundry is done, we are 1/2 packed for our trip, and the dinner plan is to eat leftovers. This time tomorrow we will be in an airplane!

One Week In

We are one week into the New Year and I am forever trying to catch up on laundry…but I did sweep and mop all my floors this morning while Zane napped!!! So I feel accomplished :)

That little guy is getting bigger and bigger by the minute, it feels like. He has been feeling a bit off the past week so I finally called the doctor to see if we could get in. We talked about all kinds of great things... like poo poo and throw-up and rashes and later that night I even had to collect some of that poo poo and put it in 3 different plastic cups to be tested. Oh, the things you do as a mom! Nothing stuck out to the doctor as being wrong, but like I said, he has been a bit off, and has had non-stop diarrhea. Therefore, some testing of the poo poo is being done.

While at the doctor, he did get weighed and he is a whopping 18 pounds! I keep referring to him as my “18-pounder” and it makes him sound like a turkey for some reason. Haha! And for the record, because I think it’s interesting…Jaxen, at this age, weighed 21 pounds. 

Zane was pretty precious one night, wrapped up in my cozy blanket!

In other news of the New Year…my cutie husband turned 35! He took the day off and we celebrated with breakfast at our favorite diner and then went shopping for some new boots for him. No luck finding them in the stores, but I think he is planning on ordering the ones he wants online. Guess where I took him for lunch? The grocery store :) Actually, this particular store has great sushi - so it was a treat for him. 

And for dinner we headed to another favorite spot and ate wings, french fries and mozzarella sticks. Can you tell we have not started the “eat healthy after the New Year” thing?! This particular place gives you free wings (the number of your age) on your birthday. So - that was a no brainer! 35 free wings for the win! The french fries were for Jaxen (and me) and the mozzarella sticks were because they had appetizers 1/2 off, so why not, right?

Any family-outing is always an adventure these days! Zane is chewing the paper plate that we brought from home for Jaxen’s play-doh. Doesn’t everyone do that?! This was probably the calmest of the evening…but it was fun celebrating our favorite guy!

These two kiddos sure do love their daddy!

 One funny thing that has been happening most nights since Christmas is this...

See the Starburst outside of Jaxen’s room, on the floor? He has some candy leftover from his Christmas stocking that is in his room. And every night, he lays one piece of candy outside his door so he will remember that he wants to eat it the following day. Sometimes he puts it in his lunch and sometimes he just eats it after school. I think this is hilarious and something I want to remember. Do you think people might just smile a bit more if everyone had a piece of candy waiting for them when they woke up? :)

We have also had fun with this box that we poked holes in and strung Christmas lights through. It’s the small things. And I’m trying to do more of the small things to make fun moments and happy  memories for my kiddos.

Today, Jaxen and I crafted after school. We painted a piece of paper and then glued marsh mellows on it to make it look like a snowman. Jaxen, of course, was more interested in eating the marsh mellows!

Once he discovered there was glue - he was all about that! He gave me strict instructions to place things where he was putting the glue. I tried to follow his instructions.

And here is the finished products (sideways)! The red dot in the middle circle is the snowman’s heart. Precious, right?!

And the boys are having all kinds of fun playing with their new toys. Tonight Jaxen and Zane were “racing” with Zane’s walkers. Jaxen kept winning - and making sure Zane knew it! Haha!

Well, that’s a little bit of our life this week. No big weekend plans…but we are getting excited to travel south this next week!

Ending The Year With Some Fun!

We have had some fun the past week as we said goodbye to 2016…

Someone gifted us a Rice Krispies Train Set for Christmas...

Step 1: eat marshmallows

Step 2: make the rice krispies

Step 3: eat more marshmallows

Step 4: put the rice krispies in the train molds

Step 5: pull the rice krispies out and decorate

Step 6: eat and enjoy!

Nik and Jaxen also had a little fun in the snow.

What is not pictured is them working at the church shoveling snow (Jaxen loves to help)

and then Nik taking him sledding down the hill.

He loved it!

I think we have created a new tradition…Candy Cane Hide and Seek (in the dark).

 Everyone gets a headlamp or flashlight.

You turn off all the lights in the entire house.

You take turns hiding candy canes in the dark while someone else

has to find them with their flashlight!

Then, once you play 467 times you eat a candy cane!

Jaxen loves this game!

We have also had our fair share of naps.

This was my view one day….I just love napping with Jaxen!

No ‘fun’ week is complete without a little organization.

I clean and organized a few closets and Jaxen’s room.

We can’t leave Zane out of all the fun…

He has loved having his brother home everyday to play with!

And one last thing…

Our Worship Leader was so sweet to include Jaxen in the Worship Team Sunday morning.

Jaxen loves to sing and although he does not know the words,

or sings on key or keeps a beat…it brings joy to my heart

when he worships the Lord!

I really enjoyed Jaxen being home from school.

It gave us some great family time and it allowed him to catch up on some needed rest.

I also napped a few days, re-learned how to crochet and enjoyed

staying up late watching movies with Nik (and sometimes Zane - haha)!

Hello 2017!

Whether you are starting this year out tired….

with a few more gray hairs….

maybe with an explosion of some sort….

or you have cute new boots and are as happy as can be….

I want to wish you a happy New Year!

This morning in church, Nik preached on the following verses:

“Do you  not know? Have you not heard? 

The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. 

He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.”

Isaiah 40:28-31 

That is my prayer for this coming year…

that I will place my hope (and trust) in the Lord, and I will allow Him to renew me!