Going Backwards

There is so much to tell. The past few months have just gone with the blink of an eye! Everything will be posted backwards, I apologize, but there are just some moments that have to be shared. This first one is around the first of October. My parents have season tickets to BYU football games and this year they decided along with my aunt and uncle to do tailgaiting parties. This particular game Christopher and Michelle couldn't make the game so thankfully we were able to use their tickets. Alexander went to his first football game and thoroughly enjoyed it..at least I think he did! He was very good and wasn't fussy. At half time we were able to go down and find a quiet place so he could eat and after that we were finishing the game with Mom, Dad, Becky, Lance, Bethany and Brett. The seats Chris and Michelle gave us were in seats and just a perfect location because you could see the whole field. Thanks Chris and Michelle, we really enjoyed ourselves. As the game was ending, Alexander was on JOse's lap just sitting there and when the game was over we looked at Alexander and he was....asleep!!

Pondering

I've been pondering the past few days at how this year is almost over and how I'm not looking forward to starting a new year! Not because it's a new year, but because I really do not enjoy the month of January and it always seems like the year is going to go by soooo slow, especially with the snow! However, I'm looking forward to making goals. Being the YW president in my ward, I gave a lesson about short/long term goals. I told them to write their goals down. I'm going to take my own advice because there are a lot of goals I want to do for this coming year and if I don't write them down, I know I won't accomplish them.
I was also thinking and wondering, am I a bad parent? Am I doing things right? Am I a lazy mother? Do I feed Alexander enough? Am I a bad mother because I didn't take the opportunity, and there were plenty, to take Alexander downtown to witness the wonderful sight of Christmas Lights downtown at Temple Square? Another year has gone by and I still have yet to go see the lights. I know Alexander enjoys them because there is this neighborhood that tells the story of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and the houses are all decked out. We took Alexander to go see them and he was just in awe. Alexander is still nursing and I haven't put him on any solids per say because of all his food allergies. I have yet to make food that he can eat---it's too expensive! I know it'll be worth it, one day. So, I don't know if I feed him enough because when I look at some of the magazines it has what their meals should be like throughout the day and I don't do it. He gets breakfast, lunch, dinner, and cereal before bed, plus milk. I need help.
So besides all that pondering there's the added stress of keeping the house clean, playing with him and finding time to get on mom and dad's computer without it seeming like I'm ignoring my sweet boy. Am I the only one that feels this way?!

A day of adventure!

Before I begin this post I just want to add something. I realized the other day that my posts are....boring. I don't write like I used to. So, my goal is to make my posts more interesting and to have detail. I work in 4th grade this year and the teacher I work with has journal writing time where they just write until he says stop. I thought, "that's a great idea, I haven't done writing like that since my english classes in college." Although, I guess I write in Alexander's journal so why not write on the blog like I do his journal? So here we go...
On saturday, Jose, Alexander and I had a day filled with adventure. It was such a beautiful day to not take advantage of it so we decided to hit the stores. With Alexander being heavy these days and with his car seat weighing as much as him we decided to put him in the cart. A side note, we were very hesitant to do this because of all the germs and because we don't have a cart cover, which are really cool, but we did anyway. At first he was holding on for dear life, but then he realized it wasn't as bad as he thought so he let go. He had a blast. He loved it so much he was dancing! We put this beanie on his head and when I looked over at him his cute little ears were sticking out and these big beautiful brown eyes just in awe and I realized just how much he looks like his daddy...all from wearing a beanie!! Later in the evening we browsed in Ross and attempted to put him in the cart again. The result: loved it. We found this electronic dog thing that's like a speaker and it plays music. Alexander heard it and started dancing. It's the cutest thing to see him dance; his cute body moving up and down. I did get it on video so I'll have to try and update my computer skills to post it. Telling about his dancing just doesn't cut it, you have to witness it.
To end our day of adventure Alexander slept through the whole night....and in his crib. It was so weird to not have him wake up at least once to eat. Jose had to check on him twice just to make sure he was still alive!! He hasn't made it through the night since, but that first time was very monumental. We love you Alexander.

A night of fun!

One of our favorite places to go is Gardner Village. Twice a year they have a midnight madness so we usually go to look around. This time they did a luau and had food, dancers and prizes. We decided to take Alexander and this is what happened.

Camping

I know a lot of you have been waiting for me to update my blog so here is a huge entry of what we've been up to this summer. The first being the first camping trip of the year. Although it rained for a little bit it was a blast and Alexander had one of the best nights of his life!!

Asleep during fireworks?!

Little Alexander celebrated his first fourth of July...asleep! (Just the second half of the firework show). He did really well during the day and loved getting together with family. We traveled down to Provo, and due to the construction we found a new spot that was shaded and quiet! Alexander just sat on his blanket playing and making noises and being quite content. He's such a good baby. It was time for the fireworks and bless Jose's heart; he wanted to make sure Alexanders ears were covered up because he's funny with noises. This is a little boy who doesn't like loud laughing but can handle thunder..go figure! The first firework went off and he was not a happy camper. Jose took him and I guess he did okay because I went to check on them during the break he was okay. THe second half started and we put the blanket with our hands over his ears and he LOVED it. 5 min. later he's asleep and sleeps well through the night.

Being silly

Need I explain?!

6 month stats

Alexander is in his 6 month stage, almost 7 months. He weighs 16 lbs. and 3 oz. He is 25 1/2 in. long and his head circumference is 40 something cm...I think! Although his percentile is low his doc wasn't concerned. I mean after all he does come from short parents!!He grabs very well and thinks everything can go in his mouth. He rolls over, but it's not his favorite. He enjoys standing or being on his feet. He can sit up by himself for a long time. His favorite past times include playing with paper and bags that make noise. Don't judge me about the bag thing, we watch him closely. He doesn't put it over his head; he'll crinkle it then sooner or later it ends up down by his feet and it's his feet that makes the noise. Those two things entertain Alexander for quite some time. It's quite entertaining to watch!! He's on solids, which he's been on since he was 4 months. He's really good at eating and even though everything seems to be his favorite, he really enjoys bananas, applesauce and squash. So there's the latest. He's growing and being quite the cute little stinker!! We love him and are very blessed to have him in our lives.

Father's Day

It's not the best picture, but look at these two handsome boys! I'm so lucky to have both of these guys in my life. Jose was able to enjoy his first father's day. I love getting together with family. We had a barbecue at mom's with cousins and grandparents. It's so much fun when family gets together. It was a perfect day to honor our fathers.

Cross your fingers!

After a long-g-g-g wait here are some pictures in no particular order. Enjoy!
Here is Easter.
He put his hand in a perfect cup shape all by himself, just so he could hold an egg!! Way to go sweet baby!
Yes, he knows how to give kisses
Look at that cute smile!

The prize is?...

School is Out!! I'm finishing the last days of school; I have two days left and to that I say Hooray! Working in Kindergarten has been fun. I have to admit I didn't like it at first; I hated it. I later started to enjoy it. It definitely is a lot more teaching, but it is fun. THere are some really cute kids. I hope I'm lucky and get to work with them next year in 1st grade. Being in kindergarten has helped deal with being away from Alexander. So even though it's been a fun year both in 1st and Kindergarten I'm VERY MUCH looking forward to having the summer off to play with Alexander. Another prize besides school being out is having more time to play on my blog! So for those of you who are getting bored of not seeing pictures I say "there will be pictures!" Let SUMMER begin. HOORAY! :)

Realization!

Do any of you ponder about your life and think how boring it is?! I mean sometimes you hear about peoples lives and they seem to have adventure or something exciting going on. I've come to the realization that Jose and I are two very boring people. My mom mentioned how my blog is nothing about Jose and I; it's just Alexander. There's a reason for that, we're boring!! LOL We just take each day one at a time. We're learning life as newly parents and trying to adjust. If you ever came to my house before we had Alexander it was clean, but after we had Alexander it's amazing you can find anything! It definitely looks like we have a baby!! Kudos to all you parents who have figured out how to manage your time with a new born! Nothing exciting is going on with us. We just have a list of all these projects we want to do, but not enough time! So if you haven't pondered about your life now maybe after reading this you will. Is your life full of adventure and you have something exciting to tell people or is it like Jose and I-nothing exciting to tell unless a baby is involved?!

Thank you!

This is a little note to say Thank You to all of you who prayed and/or fasted for our little one, Alexander. Thanks to recommendations to go to South Valley Dermatology over at Jordan Valley Hospital, we found a Doctor who knew what he was doing. There was no guessing with this Dr., he knew what it was and he knew what to do; no more of this "experimenting." Peanut Oil is the cure, who would've thought!! Alexander had a check up yesterday and he's 85% better. He has one more week on the peanut oil three times a day then after that it's just some cream. Jose and I are so grateful to have family and friends who care. So Thank You! Thank You! Thank YOu! We love you all.

To Thumb or Not to Thumb?!

These posts are so out of order. Alexander for months now has been gnawing at his little fists, but on this particular day he couldn't decide if he wanted to move to the thumb or keep the fist! He hasn't quite mastered the thumb sucking, but he does know where his thumb is; he just likes to chew on it rather than suck. I apologize for not having pictures or videos, I'll get working on it...soon.

Happy Easter!

Easter was a beautiful day. Alexander must have been a good boy because he got to do 2 easter egg hunts! The Easter Bunny loves Alexander and he loves him. He's good at grabbing things and bringing them close to his face to give kisses. He got this little bunny and when I tell him to give the bunny kisses he brings it close to his face, opens up his mouth and gives him kisses. He didn't quite know what to think about the hunt so he decided to shed some tears. It was a lot of fun though to take him around to find the eggs and to enjoy the beautiful sunshine. I think he likes the heat... just like his mamma! Now that he can see, recognize colors and people he's constantly staring at people. There's one picture perfect moment to where we gave Alexander a egg to hold and he has a perfect hold of the egg--his hand all cup and all.

New Tricks

Alexander is getting bigger and more fun every day. A few weeks back he made some discoveries: his hands, his tongue and what he can do with his tongue. In this video is some of his tricks he's developed. I don't know how well you'll be able to hear it, but try to listen carefully and you'll know his new tricks. Enjoy! Having technical difficulties, I'll try and get it up soon.

A special prayer

Before I go into detail about the Title of today's blog let me apologize for not updating this blog. There is lots to tell and share; it's just finding the time to do it all and have the computer actually work!! One day though and hopefully soon. Okay, so here's the background. Alexander has been struggling for the past month with his skin. He has eczema. It wasn't so bad to begin with, but a while back he was getting these yellow crusties on his scalp and his cheeks. His cheeks were really raw, red and just oozing. We saw a dermatologist and she told us it was Atopic Dermatitis and gave us some heavy duty ointment. I called it "the miracle ointment" because it was working. After 3 days it didn't seem to work as much. Well as Jose and I were watching it, it seemed to get worse, he was coughing, wheezing -due to asthma, and very hoarse. Monday morning he woke up to having these bumps all over his little body; including his face and scalp. I took him to the Dr. and he has an infection of some kind. I don't know yet because I haven't gotten the results. I think he has allergies, and so a blood test was taken to see what kind of allergies Alexander has. Jose and I have a request of all our family and friends: To say a special prayer on behalf of Alexander that this infection will pass through him and that the bumps all over his little body will go away. We're asking family members to fast if they're able to, but if any friends are willing to fast that would be greatly appreciated. Despite all that Alexander is going through right now he's still a happy little baby with no fever and a strong appetite. We thank all of our family and friends for their love and support and hope you'll say a special prayer for this precious little one. We love you all.

Why didn't anyone tell me?!

So I went back to work at the beginning of February. It's nice to have a different change of setting than just the house, however, it's hard to leave a newborn. He's changing every day, I can't believe how much they change. He hasn't slept through the night quite yet, and the most he's slept is 5 hrs. We definitely miss the 8 hrs., but we're thinking 5 is heaven!! So I'm starting to keep a food journal because for some reason there's some food I can't eat. I thought it was just beans and spicy stuff. Why didn't anyone tell me I shouldn't eat chocolate? Apparently it keeps the babies awake, having colic, gassy and maybe an allergic reaction. GIving up any amount of chocolate will be hard. I learned that what the Lord was trying to tell me the other day was that even through bad things that happen good things can happen. BEing a mom is challenging and rewarding. I love it.

Christmas 2008

These are just a couple of pictures to describe Christmas. Due to lack of money and a new addition to the family, Christmas couldn't have been any better. Family from out of town came and that made it memorable. We were able to spend the holidays with both sides of the family so everyone got to see the new addition and we got to visit with family. Besides Alexander being the best gift ever, the rocking chair fell next in line. I wouldn't get out of the chair, that's how comfortable it was and is. What a nice way to close out the year by sharing it with family, friends and being grateful for the year of 2008.

Better late than never!

On Jan. 4, 2009 our precious baby boy Alexander was given a blessing by his father. What a precious moment. Although this is late, it's still better late than never! The spirit was so strong that day and Heavenly Father was definitely with Jose as he gave him a sweet blessing. Overcome with tears and unable to understand all of the blessing it was filled with love. He was given a blessing to stay strong in the gospel and one day serve a mission and find someone to marry in the Temple. With ALexander being a little fussy before the blessing, the angles were with him during the blessing to be calm then after the blessing it was back to fussiness. Thank you to all our family and friends who were in the circle. ONe thing is for sure, he's surrounded by lots of love. Thank you Jose for holding the priesthood and Thank you Heavenly Father for giving us this sweet little baby. WE love you Alexander.

The biggest loser

Does anyone watch the show The Biggest Loser? Well if you do and if you don't there are two guys who are the youngest and really overweight. Mike is 18 and Dan is 19. Dan weighed in at close to 500 lbs. when he arrived. Sadly Dan was sent home last night. I just had to cry because out of everyone there I felt Dan needed to stay there the most. On the bright side they showed Dan today and he's lost 101 lbs. total and is off some kind of diabetic medicine. I hope Dan continues to believe in himself and doesn't give up. I just wanted to comment on that. I love that show, it makes me cry just about every episode; I don't care if it's scripted I think it's powerful and can teach something to everyone no matter what your size.

I'm slow!

I know I'm really slow at updating my blog. Sometimes our computer is tempramental! Alexander keeps me busy too that when I think I have time to play on the computer he tells me not today! So the update is he's growing each and every day. Last time we had him weighed he was 9 lbs. 12 oz., but I'm sure he's past 10 lbs. by now! One blessing is that he can still wear his newborn clothes. He's 8 weeks old and will be 2 months on Super Bowl sunday. He's becoming more and more interested in people and his surroundings. He tells stories to Grandpa and just koos at Grandma. The smiles have started even if some of them are due to gas!! One of these days I'll get a video of him talking. We just bought a video camera thanks to KSL.com so it's all a matter of reading the manual and figuring out how it works.

Alexander's first bath

So Alexander's first bath wasn't his best experience. It was the old fashioned way, in the sink! He was doing fine that is until his feet touched the water; he tried climbing up Grandma to avoid the water as much as possible!! Here is Alexander's process in 3 steps. The end result: smelling nice and clean :)