Zach's One Month/Alex's Baptism

Well, I originally stood in front of the computer hours ago in an attempt to get something written and uploaded on here - and it finally came that I have three extra seconds to actually type something on here! Life is crazy, but good. :) We had an excellent day today.

I meant to post yesterday, being that it was Zach's one month birthday. I also meant to post the day before that (the 26th) because it was Alex's baptism birthday. However, I think that the clocks in this house go straight from 8:15 pm to 1:15 am - because the time is gone! I get a lot done, and am just dead tired when I finally fall into bed, but I never realize just how late it's getting. I need to get it all worked out, because this will be my last week at home. :( Boo-hoo!!!

Anyway, on to the boys!

Thursday was Alex's 2nd baptism birthday - as well as Thanksgiving! He got a gift from Grandma Le and Grandpa Dave, which he immediately had to explore! Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!!

The next morning - well - just too funny!! (Must've been a rough night!)

Friday was Zach's one month birthday! I can't believe that he's a month old already - the time has truly flown by! He's just begun to smile - but I can never seem to get it on camera. Once he sees the silver box in front of him, that's what he's fixated on - I guess Aunt Rah-rah has him traumatized already!! (Rah-rah is THE picture lady - she always has her camera on her and snaps the best shots!!)

I did get some pictures of Alex loving on Zach - enjoy!!

Today (Saturday) we went to Grand Island and had a GREAT time! We got some Christmas shopping done, and both boys were amazing! We went to the mall, went into just about every store there, went to Kohl's (Mom, you'll be employed for another year - I think that we spent enough to support the entire DC!!), Sam's Club (diapers and wipes seem to be flying off the shelves in our house!!), Wal-Mart, and then back to the mall for something we weren't able to find anywhere else.

Something else that we're working on -- potty training! Alex has been going at childcare, and will now willingly sit on the chair here at home. (There are two other boys that also are working on potty training at childcare, so Alex has taken an interest just because that's what his friends are doing. Julie reports that he has peed several times while sitting on the potty!) However, when we are at home, he would only sit fully clothed. This week he decided that we needed to take his diaper off and pull his pants down!! YAY! He hasn't gone yet, but just sitting there is a big step. (Yes, he has a cookie - I am not above a little bribery!!) :)

Finally, Zach makes the cutest little hand motions when he is sleeping. We call this one the "it was thiiis big" pose.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello all!

It's the day before Thanksgiving - and we hope that all of you will be spending it with those that you love. We'll be spending the day in North Platte with Andy's family - his aunt and uncle and their family live there, so we'll be heading there for the day.

On Monday Andy and Alex had haircuts! One of them did a great job sitting still and acting like a big boy, and the other one, well, left in tears after a knock-down-drag-out fight! Suckers didn't work, toys didn't work, even the bribe of McDonald's ice cream didn't work. Finally we just told the stylist to just go for it - - it's a little shorter than we intended, but scissors weren't going anywhere near his head......I wish that Andy could handle himself better. :) HA!

Here are a couple of shots of one of the clean-cut men.....

SMILE!!! :)

And we couldn't leave Zach out - - so here are a couple of pictures of where he spends a great deal of time - because the boy REFUSES to burp!! Instead, he likes to get really cranky about 30 minutes after he eats......we're having our first battle of wills!!! :)

Andy had his sleep study done last night - which meant that I was home with two boys....while most nights Alex sleeps through the night - would you think that last night would be the night that he'd be up 4 times (with bad dreams??) He was convinced (at 1 in the morning) that Daddy was hiding downstairs - luckily, he would go back to bed without too much crying and carrying on. Zach was up twice, but between the two boys, feedings and falling back asleep, I think I maybe got 45 minutes of sleep. I'm looking forward to the drive tomorrow so that I can nap. AND, Andy isn't allowed to leave for the night until the boys are at least 12.

The results of the study - - well, Andy thanked me for being a nag!! :) Mark the day!! I guess there are two kinds of sleep apnea, and he has both. One of them is an obstruction apnea, which should clear itself up when he has his tonsils and adenoids removed on the 12th. The other kind has to do with the brain, which means that Andy gets to wear a funny mask to sleep at night to make him breathe - because (gasp!) Andy STOPS breathing 2 times EVERY MINUTE!! His oxygen level (which is supposed to be above 90%), drops to between 60-70% when he's asleep. The tech that watched Andy thoughout the night said that it appeared to be that Andy spent more time NOT breathing than actually breathing. So, I am very glad that I kept nagging Andy about all of this before something serious came from it.

That's all from our end of the world. Have a great turkey-day everyone (for those of you that like turkey....if you're like me, you pray for ham!) :)

Videos of the Boys

Aren't you all lucky? Here are videos of the boys that we shot tonight - - and I actually had time to upload them tonight!! :)

Here's a new game Alex and Daddy invented - -(just as long as Alex doesn't try this with ANYONE else!!)

And we couldn't leave Zach out - - not as exciting, but a video of him nontheless.

Yes, We're Alive!

Hello! It's been a whole week since we last posted - and tonight's post almost didn't happen! We're finding that we don't have a whole lot of extra time with two children (surprise, surprise), so the blog posts have taken the backseat. Any extra time we do have is spent cleaning, laundry, or remembering what adult conversation is like. So, we apologize for the infrequency of our posts, but we'll get something up every once in a while.

One of the strangest things that has happened is that Squiggles the cat has taken a STRONG liking to Zachary. I don't remember her being this protective with Alex - - it's strange. At night, Squiggles will sit/lay on the bed, just watching Zach. If he cries, she's up immediately. If he's crying for more than 5 seconds, then she gets up and walks on my feet and legs as if to say, "Hey, you need to go take care of him!!" When he's on his changing table, and if he begins to cry (which usually happens with a poopy diaper - those wipes can be chilly!), Squiggles is on my feet or biting my TOES - - so I have taken to wearing socks most of the time to help soften the teeth marks. I have attached a few photos of during the day when Squiggles is guarding him. It's become pretty amusing, she really seems to care about him. We'll see how that sentiment changes once Zach becomes mobile. :)

Alex has another new addition to his room! We moved the TV from the kitchen into his room, so that he could watch his DVD's in the evening when we are getting supper ready. Here's a shot of him enjoying his movie while on his new couch.

Here are a few shots of Zach - when his eyes were WIDE open!! :) (With NO flash, of course!)

And, try as we may, we cannot seem to get a picture of Alex - - the boy is just too active! So, a video will have to do. Here we were watching football, and Alex got the idea, just too funny!

For Aunt Elly - Happy Birthday!

Yes, Elly......Alex must've known that today was your birthday and therefore made an "Ode to Elly" situation - - this time Zach was in his carseat and Alex used the stuffed animals to bury him.

The two of you (Elly and Zach) can enjoy griping about how mean your older siblings were to you when you were young - and how you now have a fear of being buried...by strange items. :)

Hold That!

Last night Alex had yet another first - I guess it was a first for Zach, too.....

Alex came up to me and said, "Hold that?" and then motioned for Zach. I had him climb up onto the loveseat, and then placed Zach in his lap. He loved it!!!!

Alex then began the mob of kisses and head-licks. (Yes, head-licks).........

Zach began to get antsy - or maybe it was the big brother in his face and the flashing of the camera - so when Zach started crying, Alex was ready to hand off - -

.....and then 2 minutes later he wanted to "hold that" again! (He asked repeated times this morning, also!) What cute boys we have!!!!

Rah-Rah!!!

Well, Alex is beginning to take after his Aunt Rah-Rah (Farah or Sarah to the rest of us) :)

He got a hold of our camera last night, and here was his first "official" picture......


Yes, that's his finger in front of the lens - here was his second shot.....

Alex has also been enjoying his new vacuum - and he found a new place to put it! He has pulled my vacuum out of the closet so that his will fit - - so now I have to find a new place to keep mine! :)

Occasionally, he still says, "No, Noah" or "Mine, Noah" when he first turns it on... :)

We saw this car outside of Andy's building yesterday - - too funny not to take a picture of!

Zach is doing well also - we'll try to get pics of both boys up here soon. Zach's cord stump has been bleeding just a little, so that has me a little concerned - and today he seemed to be in quite a bit of pain - I couldn't conclude if it was because of the cord stump or because of gas, so we'll see how tonight goes. He's sleeping peacefully in his swing right now - the first good "sleep" he's had all day. Hopefully it continues. :)

And Alex is vacuuming. :) My house has never been so clean. HA!

21 to 4 - in a matter of an hour.....

WOW - this weekend was an absolute flurry of people - both Andy and I had our families here for the weekend, to celebrate Alex's 2nd birthday and Zach's baptism. I knew it was going to be a crazybusy weekend, but I had no idea!! Hence the title of this post - we went from 21 people in our house to 4 in one hour. I think that my head is still spinning! I'll do my best to recap what happened, but I do have a bunch of pictures to help me tell the story. :)

Before everyone got here Friday, Alex took some time to steal Grandma Le's camera, and HAM IT UP!!! (There's also a video that goes with this - right below)

Alex and Noah taking a little time to relax before the party gets started (they are both fans of Sesame Street)


Alex's BEST gift - - the bag!!!

The crowd - - right to left - Grandpa Rex, Grandma Rose (on the floor), Aunt Sarah, Grandma Le, Uncle Neil, Aunt Elly, Grandpa Dave (hiding in the doorway) and Grandma Annette.

More of the crowd - left to right - my Uncle Jon and his son, Elijah, his daughter, Sophie on the floor, my Grandma Bobbi, Aunt Gina (Jon's wife) holding Zach, Grandpa Elroy in the rocker, Grandma Marge, and Daryl. Alex's and my head are at the bottom of the picture.

Elijah and Alex checking out one of Alex's new toys.

Cake time!! Alex had an Elmo cake - I thought I had a picture of it, but I guess not - Sarah, can I have a shot of yours, please?? :)

Our family after the baptism (this is one of the only shots you'll see Alex in - there were toys to be played with, after all!)

Zach's sponsors: (left to right) Uncle Neil, Aunt Elly, Aunt Sarah (Farah or Rah-rah), me, Zach, Andy and Uncle Dallas. For those of you who don't know the family makeup, my sisters are by me, Andy's brother is by him. :)

Us with my parents...

Us with both sets of grandparents....

Us with my parents and grandparents....

Us with Andy's parents and grandparents.....

Our family photo (clothing organized by Aunt Farah) :)

The cousins picture - Noah (Elly and Neil's boy who is 5 months younger than Alex), Zach, and Alex.

After everyone had left - we CRASHED!!!!

Aunt Elly will appreciate this one - here's the "back story" for the rest of you....when I was little, Elly was in the baby swing and I piled all of my plastic groceries on top of her. There was a picture taken and Elly was screaming her head off, and I was standing by proud as could be.....I guess it runs in the family to pile things on top of your younger siblings.... :) There is also a video at the bottom of Alex talking to Zach about the tools.....and offering high fives. :)