A review of 2009

I decided that the next posts need to be a review of 2009 and what was going on not just with Alexander, but with Jose and I. If anyone knows how to do a collage of pictures, please let me know. I think that's going to be the best way to sum up 2009with little excerpts to explain about the pictures.
The year 2009 was a difficult one, but a very fulfilling year. I think the only reason why I was able to survive was having my sweet boy to look at daily. Have you ever loved someone so much, as I'm sure most of you have, but you love that someone so much you just can't get enough of that person? I'm like that with my sweet husband Jose and my sweet boy Alexander. Yes, there are times where I feel my patience has been tested to the limit, but after a few minutes of "me time" I can enjoy my time with my family.
Alexander has grown so much. He's 13 months and has me running around. Some of you are probably saying, 'just wait until he's 2.'

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.