XandersXoo

Moving again!

2012-01-27T13:18:00.001-08:00

I hate to do it, but I got so tired of Bloggers interface I decided to move. Midst-change over Blogger changed their interface. Eff.

Oh well the damage had been done. Please move with us to our new locale:

Xandersxoo.wordpress.com

11 Months Old - Holy Cow!

2011-08-23T21:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Xan Xan,

Another month down and you continue to amaze me. Your walking skills get better and better even though you don't seem to care much how well you walk - you are going to do it no matter what and at whatever peril. When you watch video of you walking at the beginning of this month you were wobbly and unbalanced when you could get a few steps in. By the end of the month, the world was yours to explore!

at 10 months:

at 11 months:

In other news we are still struggling with getting you to like food. I'm sure one day we will laugh and talk about how much you hated solid foods and you'll be 100 pounds over weight or something. I hope not. If it sounds like I am a broken record in our attempts to get you to eat and how many times we have failed well, try living it.

We sit you in your high chair every day, usually three times a day, just on the hopes that one day it clicks. When or when will it be? Everyone has a "solution" and then they quickly learn just how difficult it is. Remember - the doctor said we could start feeding you solid food at four months. We have been trying ever since. Ugh. As you can see in this picture most the food we give you ends up in your hair.

We fill our days up with doing various fun activities - playing down in the basement, in the backyard and various outings with family and friends. On thing you get to do weekly this summer is go to "Music Together" over at your friend Miles' house. There you learn all sorts of songs that the dads sings to all their kiddos - it must be quite a sight from an outsider - but we have a good time. Your instructor, Dawn, brings her "autoharp" which you all love to climb on and play at the end of each class. In this picture you are playing a drum by John and Chris.

We did so many things this month from more visits to the zoo to a visit to the humane society to look at dogs for your uncle Jase.

We spent a lot more time outside because this super rainy spring started to stop and get sunny. You went to your first REAL Salt Lake soccer game (and your second).

You had visits from your Roark cousins, and your aunt Mim and Uncle Kevin.

There was one visit that was not a good one, however. That was a visit to the ER! Your Papa took you out for a bike ride one evening. When you came back you weren't quite yourself - unable to stand, looking a little off in the eyes. I was going to take you upstairs to take your temperature and you threw up - three times. Then you started to pass out. We panicked and quickly called 9-1-1. They arrived super quickly. They checked you out and found nothing super pressing but felt it would be best to have you checked at the hospital. So we gathered you up and brought you there for a long evening of tests. It ended up being nothing they could figure but it was a long and scary night. Our best guess - motion sickness! :-(

You LOVE outside and want to get out there as much as possible. Luckily your super awesome neighbor, Cecilia, has a swing that you can use pretty much whenever you want. How great is that?

We had a couple of great holidays to celebrate this month. It was your first Independence Day! To celebrate we did something new: the bike parade in Centerville - you just watched.

We did something old: the 4th celebration at Eaglewood Gold Course in North Salt Lake

And we did something lame: 4th of July celebration at Liberty Park (it was new this year and while we had great company the fireworks were pretty lame). You actually quite liked the fireworks - pointing and saying your first word "Light" over and over again...it was a lot of fun to watch you. You didn't get scared at all!

The other holiday we got to celebrate was Fathers' Day. For most it is Father's Day which denotes one Father...for us...lucky us, and you, it is Fathers' Day - because you have two Dads! Fathers' Day this year was a beautiful day so we decided to go out for some quick pictures on our front steps. They turned out pretty good.

To top off our month of adventure we took yet another plane ride. This time to visit your great grandma Mosman. She is your Nonnie's mom. She lives in Alberquerque, New Mexico - where your Papa grew up. It was a great adventure to see some of your family roots. It was great to finally meet this great grandma - for both you and me. Here are four generations:

While in New Mexico we got to see the sights a bit, including driving up to Sante Fe! We had a great trip and you were such a good boy sleeping very well.

You got to meet a lot of your great aunts and uncles as well. It was really great to be with so much family. They were so loving and welcoming!

One morning you got up early. It was a great opportunity for me and you to go explore the neighborhood. So we did before it got hot. We went to a local park and spent some daddy-baby time together. I loved it!

Well, it was a full summer with lots to do and things to see. First experiences abound! Next month we will be rounding out your last month of firsts. We might even venture down to Lake Powell! Although I'm not sure we can handle it. I was sort of hoping you wouldn't be walking by then so I could keep a better eye on you. We'll have to see. But we will continue to enjoy the summer - lounging in the back yard, over at the neighbors, or just traveling the streets in your diaper. Summer can't be beat!

The big 1 - 0....that is ten months, yo!

2011-06-21T21:38:00.001-07:00

Dear Xander,

I can't believe we are only one month away from you turning one year old. I can't believe it was a year ago when we were in Kansas all sorts of anxious for your arrival. A year ago we were madly getting out basement remodel done and not totally aware of how our life was about to change. Now we play in the basement every day, we are fully aware of how much our life has changed, and we have the joy of our lives giving us hugs, smiles, and the best laughs we've had every day. At this point I can't even remember my life without you (for better or worse :-) ).

This month we had some great experiences and some great milestones passed. The biggest milestone, of course, is the fact that at 9 months and 3 weeks you WALKED! As predicted by your Poppi and agreed to by your Dad, you walked. I made sure of it. With some intense training sessions and constant berating and withholding of food when necessary we did it. (okay, it was far more instigated by your intense desire to get places quickly than anything I did - and I didn't withhold food...or intensely train).

Unfortunately for prosperity sake the video shows a dad that is probably way too excited - but hey - it was a very exciting day to see you moving on your own. I will never forget the odd feeling I had when I set you up to stand and you didn't collapse or crumble under your own weight. You held yourself up for a long time! Unfortunately, in an effort to capture the greatness of this moment it wasn't a few hours past your first solid steps when you fell square on my leg - causing you to get a fat lip and a bloody nose :-( But we got it on video:

You are so eager to walk and each time I set you up and encourage you to go your arms go above your head for balance and you giggle in delight over your new discovered skill. It is so fun to watch. I worry, however, as you get a little more daring you will begin to get more fat lips and more bloody noses. You seem to be unswayed by fear though and keep plowing through it all.

Another skill you showed off this month was your ability to climb stairs - REALLY FAST. You can climb with really no hesitation or problem at all. Pretty amazing for someone who didn't know what stairs were just a few months ago :-).

You are starting to say words more meaningfully. Your first word, other than "da da da da da" probably came from a game your papa played with you. He would switch the kitchen light on when and it would catch your eye. You would then point at the light and your papa would turn it off. Each time you pointed he turned it on or off. We would say "light" a lot while we did it and so guess what your first word was? Yup, "Light." Pretty cool!

It really was an amazing month with so many milestones completed. We still have to work on shoring up your walking skills and encourage talking all we can. Now that the weather has improved we are going to go out and explore the world more. We have made many outings to the park, the zoo, and to friends house and I'm sure the next month will be the same. Thanks for being in our life, Xan. You are the man!

Love,

Dad.

9 months old...wow.

2011-05-19T23:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Xander,

I cannot believe you are now 9 months old. Time has flown so fast. Finally we are emerging out of the long winter that set in just a couple months after you were born. I have felt so cooped up inside unable to take you out to see the world. But slowly and surly we are going out and seeing more more of this amazingly complex and beautiful world.

You spent this month crawling EVERY WHERE. Literally. We couldn't stop you. Everywhere you could see you would go. Particularly if there was a dog ball you could put in your mouth or a door open to go through. You particularly love the bathroom in the basement - such a cool place I know, but it was also the scene of your first cut. Your Papa was watching you, not me :-) But you took a tumble and cut your face. It broke our hearts.

You are continuing to hang out with your new friends, Cecilia, Miles, Sonia, and others. It will be so fun to see if you stay friends with them as you get older. But for now it works out just fine. You have gone to the zoo with them, to the Park, you have hung out at their houses and they have hung out at yours. Already getting so social!

It is amazing to see the world through your eyes - as you grow and grow. You are looking more and more like a little boy and not a baby. This is both sad and exciting. But what is even more amazing is what is going on behind your eyes. It is very obvious you are starting to learn things and understand more and more. In fact there are two new activities you love to do. You have started to wave to people whether they are coming or going. Sometimes you just roll onto your back and wave at the ceiling :-) I'm sure you are just exploring how to work all those arms and legs you have!I'm not sure you love anything more than lights, as you always have, but now you have started to point at them. Your Papa was playing a game with you that when you pointed at a light he turned it on, then off with another point. I think he got you convinced all lights do it so we can barely pass through a room with lights that you will point in hopes the light will turn on or off. Very cute - but we cannot always make it happen. I hope you aren't too disappointed.

You and I still spend so many hours every day together. You go everywhere with me. Even though I don't do much politicking anymore I still have lots of meetings and you are lucky enough to come with. It used to be a lot easier when you weren't needing to touch everything in sight! But we do manage. There is nothing cuter than hearing your little heavy breathing coming from the back seat of the car while we are driving around. I nearly stop and pull over just to watch you sleep. It puts the biggest smile on my face.

Some of our favorite places to go, other than meetings, is Kid to Kid to buy you some cool stuff - like toys and clothes. We also like to go up to visit Grandma and Grandpa at their house. There you often get to hang out with your cousins and your aunts. It is a lot of fun. I can't wait for you to get bigger to where you can really plan with all of them. They can hardly wait too! We do lots of fun stuff together. We go to the Park, to the store, over to friends houses, on jogs, and to the zoo. We've gone to the zoo more times than I can remember at this point but unfortunately you don't really care much about the animals yet, but I'm sure you will soon. I like going each time hoping you will get excited about the elephant or the giraffe - not yet though.

But the reality is, especially since the weather has been so bad, we spend a lot of time hanging out in the basement. It is a place you have free reign. You can climb up on everything, touch everything, mouth everything, and you seem to love it. We built that basement just for you, so I glad you like it. Right now your favorite toys are balls, a train your Aunt Amy gave you, and your VTECH walker, and your Leap Frog music table. You could spend all day on those! One exciting thing you did with your walker was you walked across the entire basement holding on to just the walker. It was so cute to see the smile on your face knowing that you had just accomplished something so big. Walking without the walker is coming soon. In fact, I wouldn't be too surprised if it happened before your 10 month birthday, but we will see.

One happy and celebratory day we had with you was to go to the Utah Pride Festival which celebrates unique families like our own. It is so great to see so many people just like us in families that are different but work oh so well. You were the star of the festival as everyone wanted to see you and hold you!

Congratulations on completing another month of life. I'm so proud of you and can't wait to see what comes the next month.

Love,

Dad

Guacamole, sun, beach, and more guacamole.

2011-04-20T23:26:00.001-07:00

(pictures to come)

Wanting to beat the crawling madness, avoid paying airfare for a two-year-old, and get a break from the endless winter this year we booked a trip with Brandon's parents down to Cancun, Mexico. Ah, paradise.

We had done a similar trip a couple years ago pre-baby, so this time we were a little nervous as to how our trip would be different. Which it was - but it was great!

We left the last week of February and came back the first week of March. At first we thought it would be the tail-end of winter and wouldn't really be a break. Little did we know that winter was going to creep into May this year. It was a tremendous break from the craziness of life.

We flew on a direct flight down and even though this was Xander's 7th flight of his life he was getting a little more antsy so we a little worried how he would handle. I'll be honest - it was a bit harder. He kind of hated being restrained the whole flight and wanted to sit by himself. I can definitely see the advantage of buying a seat for a baby - even if you don't have to.

When arriving in Mexico we made our first parenting decision - and we failed. The shuttle drivers were so kind and pulled us in front of like 15 people who were waiting there before we were and put us on a shuttle. We hauled our car seat all the way down there simply for this ride. We got in the shuttle - they threw our bags in the back and other people started packing in. While this was going on we began to crack out the car seat. The shuttle employee came back and told us in broken English that there was no room for Xander to have a seat and we'd have to carry him on his lap. Ugh. If we were stronger/more protective parents we probably would have protested and waited. We didn't. We held Xander on our laps and took the 45 minute drive to our hotel. Luckily there was no incident. Hey - we all survived childhoods without seatbelts/carseats etc... don't judge.

The hotel, the Playacar Palace, was tremendous. All you can eat/drink/do/relax. Perfect. Best part - my endless supply of chips and guacamole. Oh yes, I took advantage of that. Every day. Sometimes twice a day. The resort was beautiful - right on the beach and our room overlooked the pool, beach, and ocean. We did so many things through the week - but mostly spent a lot of time at those three places - the pool, beach, and ocean. I have to say it was so nice of Brandon's parents for not only paying for our stay but being there as baby sitters and company for us. What a treat! Thanks Nonnie and Poppie - you are the best!

One day for a small trip we took a shuttle over to Cozumel - an island just 30 mins off of the shore of Mexico. The resort chain we stayed at allowed us to go from resort to resort enjoying the different amenities. Brandon and his mom snorkeled. Russ and I relaxed. Baby, swam and slept. I ate chips and guacamole.

Back at our "home" resort we spent some time on the beach - giving Xander his first taste of the ocean (which he didn't like - too loud and scary) and his first taste of the beach...literally (actually, he was good not to eat it...I think). He loved the sand. We obsessively lathered him with sun block and covered him with a hat and sunglasses. If you see a picture in the sun without that stuff it was probably because we quickly removed it just for picture purposes.

We spent lots of time at the pool just hanging out. Good thing Xander couldn't crawl yet - although we knew he was getting very close and spent lots of time in the room practicing his crawling and spending time with family. We also spent a lot of time in our room while our baby guy napped - but that was also nice, taking our own naps, reading, and talking. His nap schedule, which really was just forming, stayed right on and regular. He was actually almost like clock-work, sleeping through the night, taking naps at the exact same time. It was really convenient. He was such a good trooper to let his dads get some r & r and enjoy their chips and guacamole.

One day we rented a car and went to Coba - one of the more recently uncovered Mayan ruins. It involved some mild hiking through the jungle to see a few ruins. Not as cool as Chitzen Itsa, which we visited last time, but still cool it its own right. We were able to climb the tall pyramid and see over the vast jungle of the Yucatan. Very cool. Xan had a good time and fell asleep. Standard fare for the little guy. We almost took him to the top, and probably could have, but were a little nervous since we had already been neglectful parents once on the trip. The worst part of the ruins is they didn't serve chips and guacamole.

We got the royal treatment back at the resort. Endless food, manicures, pedicures, massages. More chips and guacamole. Ahhhh....so wonderful. So relaxing. Brandon and I even had a romantic dinner on the beach.

The hardest times we had were eating. We wanted to enjoy the buffet but Xander generally wanted nothing to do with that. He didn't eat anything himself that didn't come in a bottle (see previous posts related to trouble eating solids). So we generally entertained him by giving him a butter knife or spoon (no, the knife was not sharp) that he liked to shove in his mouth to chew on. He was content for a short period while we ate fast or took turns.

On the last day Brandon's mom wanted to get some pictures done by the resort using some resort credit we had. So in Mark fashion we all were adorned with the same shirt and posed in various ways for the camera. They actually turned out quite well. Of course I got my first parental scolding from a stranger who thought our light toss of Xander into the air was abusive. Meh. Good thing she didn't find out how we got him to the resort! Actually it made me quote mad. Mind your own business, B#*@%. Yes, that is essentially what I said...actually it was, "Well thank you, I appreciate your nosiness." Luckily we were leaving the next day.

Then on our way home. We packed up our bags, held our baby on the shuttle :0(, and headed back to the airport. Good news is the plane was less full and we had a separate seat for the baby. He liked that much more. We arrived home just a couple days before we had to turn around and head to California to make our family official.

Thanks Russ and Donna for such a great memorable trip. We loved it!

8 - a whole new world

2011-04-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

(pictures to come)

About two weeks into his eighth month (about 7 and 1/2 months old) he began crawling. Our life has not been the same since.

I mentioned in my last month post that he was beginning to make the signs of crawling. He could whip himself onto all fours without any problem and then he would bounce. That was about it. I worked hard to try and make the 7 month goal - but failed. But it only took about a week after his 7 month birthday that he began to venture beyond the bounce. He took a couple steps.

A week later he was mad crawler. We quickly baby-proofed the house and got ready for the new phase of our lives!

At almost the same time he began crawling he was pulling himself up on anything and everything. He acts as though he just wants to pull himself up to see what could be on top, or on the other side. He is so curious!

I also saw him pull himself up in his bed which prompted the lowering of his bed so he won't fall out. Now we are usually greeted throughout the night, or in the morning, by him staring over the edge of the crib at us. So cute.

Two other big things this month. One very important and exciting moment. On March 11th, just a few days after we got back from Mexico, we hopped back on a plane for what we hope to be our last plane ride for a while. We headed to California to make our family as official as we are allowed now. Our adoption became legal, real, recognized by the government. What an amazing thing. As we were walking into the building I thought to myself that not only is this moment making Xander our son, officially, but it is legally connecting mine and Brandon's relationship. Other than joint bank accounts, mortgages, and car titles we are not recognized as a pair. But now we are Xander's parents. Whether or not the state of Utah accepts it. A very happy day. Welcome to the family, Xan.

While we were in California the next thing happened. I was driving up the freeway with my cousin Missy and her daughter, Tessa, when Xander popped my finger into his mouth as he does constantly and I felt something sharp! Sure enough...he had teeth. We knew they were coming soon, but this was the first time we noticed them for real - and they were already through. The bottom two teeth had broken through and sharp! It wasn't more than a couple of weeks later when we got home that he cut two more teeth - the top two! Now he is a four-toothed little man!

What a difference a month can make. We came back from Mexico, Adopted our son, he crawls, pulls himself up, and cut four teeth. Wow. Of course all of this leads to the oh so fun - life is too exciting to sleep - phase.

Ever since he started this fun he has been waking up multiple times in the night. We think it likely has to do with him not eating solid foods well since he just can't get enough food in a liquid diet to help him sleep through the night. So until we get that mastered we are going to be up, and up, and up. I'm tired.

Now that he crawls he takes so much more energy. He is all over the place. His main motivation for going form here to there is something he shouldn't have. Usually that thing is a dog ball or toy which he grabs and then promptly puts into his mouth. Which is swiftly followed by a "icky, ca ca, dirty!" and I pull it from his mouth. Over and over and over and over. It is so cute though when he sees something he wants, shouldn't have, or gets excited about. He makes a slight giggle sound and crawls at a super-sonic pace to that object. Then it goes into his mouth. It is quite cute.

Well that about wraps it up. Just to make sure I get all the highlights here is the rundown

Got a visit from the Roarks where they watched our little guy twice! So nice!
Got to visit the zoo and the park again. Usually not a super exciting thing but since this winter is going to stretch well into May before we get spring any day we get out of the house is monumental
He is now pretty good about holding his own bottle...although sometimes he misses:
Still working on the solid food. We feel like such parental failures being that he still is 99% on the bottle. Our friendly little parenting book tells us he should be up to three "meals" a day at this point. Ha! He is lucky if he gets one every other day. To be fixed ASAP.
He is just the cutest guy with such a great personality. He is always happy and inquisitive. He is so good and so easy.

We are lucky dads.

SEVEN

2011-03-09T01:56:00.000-08:00

Well here we are, another month down. Time flies - especially when you are having fun.

This month was filled with some great adventures, paramount to the rest was, of course, our trip to Mexico. This was Xander's first real "vacation" vacation. We have gone to Colorado to visit family, and flown to California for adoption stuff, but this was a real get-a-way. It was very awesome. More on that in a bit, first let's talk his advancements this month.

I alluded to this last month and I won't hold the suspense any longer (I know you are dying). Yes, he is sleeping in his bed! Just a couple days after his 6 month birthday we were feeling the pressure to put him in his bed, and out of the swing, primarily because our for our trip to Mexico we knew we wouldn't have a swing to put him in and we most certainly wanted our sleep. But his move to the bed came more sudden than we thought it would. We had been testing the waters with naps in his bed and they were off and on okay. Sometimes he would sleep well others he would wake up instantly. But this one night just after his 6 month birthday Brandon went to put him in his swing and he seemed so irritated with it - arching his back, waking up etc... Very unusual. So he put him in his bed. Asleep. And slept through the whole night.

Wallah.

Now, it has had its challenges since he's been there - but nothing we didn't experience in his swing. Some nights he wakes up numerous times and others he sleeps through the night. In fact, after a bout of waking up tonight I am writing this blog post at 3 AM because I can't go back to sleep :-(. Nonetheless he is in his bed. The cutest thing he will do now is when he goes down to sleep and we lay him in his bed he will turn to his side immediately - preferably close to the side of the crib. There he will sleep, on his side. Adorable.

Slowly through the month you could see Xander getting more interested in crawling. He would sit on his hands and knees for a while, then that developed further to where he would rock back and forth seemingly knowing that this would be a great way to move. Then while we were down in Mexico and he was less encumbered by his long, warm clothing and had more constant attention and encouragement from his Nonnie and Poppie, who joined us down there he began to make moves telling us crawling is right around the corner. He now will move a leg or two - either by bouncing them forward or moving a knee forward one at a time. Where he struggles is with his hands. He doesn't know how to move them. He will reach one hand out toward an object but that usually ends up in him falling over. So as we cross into his eighth month he isn't quite crawling - but SO close. I was convinced I was going to get him to crawl before he turned 7 months, but it didn't happen :-(. Oh well, he has an 'A' for effort.

One movement related to our work in the crawling field is his ability to sit up from a laying down position. I haven't seen it yet in a smooth, one-movement, fashion, but all the movements are there. From a laying down position he can get to his stomach easily, from his stomach he can easily push up to a crawling position, and then from there he can plop his bum down and sometimes (this is the hardest part) push with one arm up to a seating position. Usually that arm is too far out and he just doesn't have the strength (probably why he isn't quite crawling yet).

On the solid food front, still no luck. While in Mexico we even tried bananas - nope. I have recently reverted back to rice cereal where we had the most success. Sure enough back to about the same level of success. I'll call him optimistically, yet cautiously, curious with rice cereal. From here I intend to slowly add bits of squash into the rice cereal getting him used to more flavor. I figure by 16 or 17 years we'll have him on pizza.

Our baby guy is just so fun to have around. His personality is shining through more and more every day. He gets in silly moods and laughs at the dumbest things, he can be serious and so focused, and pretty much is always ready and willing to give you the biggest smile in the world and it is the best thing to be given. His fussiest times are usually when he wakes up. His great-grandma said it is when he doesn't know if he is awake or asleep. That is the best description I've heard. Other than that he is a HAPPY HAPPY baby.

Now, the monthly run-down

He is SO "grabby." He will wound your face, pull your hair, rip your lip, squeeze your ears, or twist your nose...but it is always done with a smile and with love :-)
He seems so interested and curious about crawling - you can see the intent to learn in his eyes. He'll get there.
He loves to play with your hands or your face while he is eating his bottle. He has done this for a while, but as he gets better with his hands it is becoming more and more his favorite thing.
He is such a chatterbox and loves to make all sorts of sounds - even when it is just to himself: (The annoying beep sounds is my phone)

We had our first visit to the park...he didn't really "get it."

We made our first visit to the zoo as well...he didn't get that either. I thought that maybe he would think the animals were at least "large dogs" but nope - he didn't care. Nice walk anyway.
And of course, Mexico. I will do a post on the trip later...

HALF year old....yes, 6 months!

2011-02-14T22:27:00.000-08:00

Well I can't believe it has been six months since our little guy came into our lives. Time is flying by so fast.

I can't believe how interactive and smart our baby-guy is getting. I already miss the baby he was, but still look forward to the person he is going to become. I suppose that always will be the torment of a parent.

Not a lot of "new" stuff this month. He has made so much progress already that really he is just improving on everything he has already started to do. He is holding things better, reaching for anything and everything. He sees what he wants and he will roll to get it. He is awake more and more interactive when he is awake. He is becoming a bit more demanding, but also more patient.

He puts anything and everything in his mouth. But hates to have solid foods in his mouth. Yes, we are still trying to get him to eat solids, but no luck with Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Winter Squash, Peas, and only mild success with rice cereal.

He still slept through the entire month in his swing. Until just after he turned 6 months old when we decided to push for the bed....you'll have to wait until next months update to hear how it went. Preview: We're very happy. Here is one of the last pictures of him in his swing. He was starting to twist around in it prompting the push to move him to his crib. So cute.

We are working on crawling and talking. Both have had limited success.

But the best thing that began to happen in the talking world this month is his babbles have turned into more controlled Da da's, which when you have two dad's is pretty perfect. So needless to say when Brandon came up from downstairs saying you've got to hear this I whipped out the camera for some of his first "words."

It has vastly improved and now is a common fixture to our conversations we have throughout the day.

It is amazing to see his personality beam through. Everyone says they aren't sure they've seen a "happier baby." That status might be disputed by all the happy babies and hard working moms and dads out there but he definitely loves to show his happiness and will smile whenever you look at him. He sure makes being a stay-at-home dad fun and enjoyable.

He loves playing with the dogs and now that he is getting better with his hands and his movements we are going to have to be very careful.

Here is the run-down of things he is doing (or not doing) -

Doing pretty good with the spit-up...still not perfect, but better
Still examining his hands (I've tried to get video - it is so cute)
Babbling more and more (da da's, growling, a-da, bvvvv (not sure how to spell that)
can pass things from one had to the other
can hold himself up on his hands and knees - can't go anywhere, but can stay there for a bit
loves looking at, playing with the dogs.
Loves to laugh at things and smile at all things
can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. So nice when we are out and he gets tired - just rock him for a few seconds - literally - and he is out
Not as good sleeping through the night as he was for a while - he often will wake up once or twice...but sometimes will sleep the night through.
We ran out of breastmilk this month (at the very end) - can't believe we made it that far!
Loves to eat books more than read them
rolls like a champion - if only we can turn that energy into crawling

Our nicknames for our little man currently are often just "baby" and "guy" but we will call him Xanadu, Xan man, Xan Xan, Xandino, Xan-a-man, Xanner Banner, and other fun names. He is getting so big and so strong. Next month we head to Mexico for a much needed vacation. I hope it goes smoothly with a baby - it will be our first vacation with him - but not our first trip. This will be our 6th flight (back from Wichita, to California, home from California, to and from Colorado, and then to Mexico) in as month months as he's been around...we should be collecting frequent flier miles for him!

Finally, we got a new computer for Christmas and when I plugged in the sound I wanted to make sure it worked so I started Solitaire and played with it briefly. He, for some reason, found the sounds it made VERY FUNNY. For us a classic Xander laugh caught on video. Forgive the videography - I was holding him, filming, and making the computer make a sound at the same time!

What is in store for next month? I am thinking we will see some strong scooting on the floor and maybe some more "words." Hopefully we will have him in his bed full time (this is a promising guess since I'm writing this blog entry a few days into the month :-) ). Exciting times! Onward to Month 7!

There is a FIVE month old in the house!

2011-01-11T16:00:00.000-08:00

Wow - time flies. I can't believe it is already time to write another post about the Xan man. He is developing SO fast and his personality is bursting from the seams. It is so fun!

We finally know where the term "bouncing baby boy" comes from. Boy can he bounce. I think I reported last month that he started to bounce in his bouncer and boy does he love it. He will do it non-stop. His feet keep moving although sometimes his head looks like it doesn't want to do it any more. The other day he was bouncing and falling asleep in the bouncer at the same time.

(this was an early bounce video...he is much more controlled now)

I felt pretty bad about that. But I have been told that it gets worse and sometimes they can fall asleep while being fed in their high chair. Yikes!

Three big things dominated this last month. That is sitting, solid foods, and the transition to the crib. I mentioned at the beginning of the month (last months post) that he was beginning to sit up...albeit with support. Well he still needs someone close by in case he gets falling in a way he can't help - but he is SITTING!!!

Now I like sitting. He can watch his dads and see what we are doing, but isn't mobile enough to get into things. I am almost betting by the end of this month he is scooting. Currently his main mode of self-propelled transportation is rolling on the floor. He can do it from one end of the room to the other if left alone.

Another big thing this month was the beginning of SOLID food. The first time didn't go so well as he gagged just about every time I put it in his mouth. It got to the point he was gagging at the sight of the spoon. So we tried again and again. We took a break when the poor guy got sick and ended up with an ear infection :-( But then started back up. He now doesn't gag, but the idea of moving the food from the spoon to his tongue to his throat is a mystery yet to be solved.

Finally, the other big thing this month is the transition from sleeping in the swing (naps and at night) to sleeping in his crib. Thanks to some help by Nonnie and Poppie who visited for Christmas we were able to clean out his room and get it all set up for just this purpose. Prior to this it was a storage room for all his stuff! So the progress over this month has been from him waking up by just stepping into the room to actually being able to put him down to nap...we did have some major progress here...but at night he is still in the swing.

Here we are getting used to the crib as not to be afraid of it...

uh oh....hold on...blow out situation....

Okay...after cleaning that up and a bath where was I?...

So what are his new personality traits he is showing this month?

He loves to growl. It is so funny to hear. He will be playing or squealing like in months past and then it turns into a growl...we call it his possessed baby. Next month his head will spin around in circles :-)

He has started to become a bit more predictable in his sleeping pattern (other than his nasty cold period) he is pretty good about napping in the mid-morning, afternoon, and early evening. They aren't always long naps, although he has been known to stay down for over an hour when I'm lucky!

His ability to grab thing has improved by leaps and bounds this month. Aside from his dads' face he will grab for any toy he can find. A whole new world is just an arms length away.

He has finally almost stopped spitting up...and has most certainly reduced the literage he projects. Laundry score!
He is so interactive and observant. He loves to watch his girls (Lacey and Lily) run around the house and whip toys around in their mouths. We got a helicopter for Christmas for him to watch fly and he ends up watching Lily because she goes NUTS when it is going. It is fun to watch. (video coming soon)

The low point of the month was that he got himself a nasty little cold which ended up turning into an ear infection :-(. But after a bout of antibiotics and a new nifty device called the Nose Frida we survived. The Nose Frida is a device we came across while searching for an alternative to the bulb syringe. You have to see what it does...words cannot describe it:

Anyway, I think that is it for the month. Next month is going to be an adventure no doubt. We are headed to half a year baby! I'm expecting big things...maybe bits of crawling? Maybe some first "da da's?" Maybe some teeth? Maybe....

Merry "X" mas

2010-12-28T00:35:00.000-08:00

The holiday season is endlessly busy without a baby, but with one it ever more busy...and fun. This year I did my shopping almost entirely on the internet. Amazon.com was my best friend. But even with that savior I still had to trek out into the chaos that is store-land at Christmas time. The little guy was a trooper. He is such a good baby. He went all around from IKEA to Costco to Kohls. It wasn't easy but we made it.

The highlights of this Christmas for us aside from the usual family time and the obvious fact that we now have a kiddo to share it all with is that Xanders Aunt Mim and her kiddos came up for Christmas from Arizona! Wahoo! It is always great to see them. We even had a more brief, but just as nice visit from Uncle Kev. We also had some nice houseguests- Xander's Nonnie and Poppie, as well as their foreign exchange student Valeria. It is always so nice to have family around to share the season together. The more the merrier!

It was a successful year for all - Xander got stackable rings, a bunch of clothes, a boon (squeezable spoon) for eating, a remote helicopter (to watch), books, some stuffed animals, and more.

It was fun and merry...just as it should be.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Four whole months!

2010-12-13T16:47:00.001-08:00

I think time flies by faster and faster each month. I can't believe our little guy is four months-old. The good news is this month was a check up so we have some stats for ya.

14.875 lbs. (a little lighter than we thought he would be...probably because he vomits half of what he eats up...the Dr. didn't seem concerned.)

50th percentile for weight (same as 2nd month) 14.875 lbs.
75th percentile for head size (up from 50th in 2nd month) 16.92 inches

Here is the real kicker! over 97th percentile for height! (up from 50% at 2nd month) - 27.75 inches.

We have ourselves a tall skinny boy on our hands (with a larger than average cranium :-) ) The doctor remarked again how strong and alert he is and how he is "behaving like a six-month old." That is my boy....exceeding all expectations :-). She also gave us the go ahead for starting solids in a couple weeks. So rice cereal here we come!

It has been another months of firsts...of course being that he is only 4 months old that should be a given. This month he:

experienced his FIRST snow (see previous post)
is more alert than ever
still loves to squeal...especially when hanging in his bed or late at night:
always wakes up with a smile...and usually babbles to himself for a while
still likes to go to bed at 2 Am (ugh). BUT...
still sleeps through the night (wahoo!).
loves his jumper:
loves to show off (as witnessed by the Dr. when he wouldn't stop squealing at her while she was trying to listen to his heart)
loves to have "conversations" with anyone that is willing to talk to him
has started to really be fascinated by toys and is reaching out to grab things!
will put anything within reach into his mouth - preferably his own hand or a dads' hand.
is a very good shopper - which is awesome during Christmas time
WILL watch tv if given the opportunity - even if we try to not give him the opportunity

As much as I frown on the idea of exulting physical achievement I was very very proud this month when he rolled over for the first time from back to front! It was a very exciting day. Brandon was at work and I had just left the room. When I came back he was no longer on his back where I left him but on his stomach - somewhat shocked and didn't know what to do with himself. I grabbed the camera...texted Brandon...and was determined to capture his second roll-over if not his first. Unfortunately, his excitement over the camera in his face made that an impossibility. So instead I had to leave the room again for him to do it :-( Sure enough he did it again out of my view. Finally on the third time I was there...

So the fourth time was flawless...by this time he had gotten over all the hurdles of that nasty right arm and could flip over without much of a problem at all. Now it happens ALL the time...I feel it is somewhat out of his control because once he gets over he usually isn't very happy. But every time he is put down...legs are pulled up and he starts heading over. Kind of funny to watch. This process lead to his next favorite discovery - his feat! He now is FASCINATED with is feet and will pull at them and talk to them all the time:

It is absolutely amazing how quickly he develops. It seems like yesterday we were securing his head as we carried him around. Now it seems like all we can do is secure his whole body so he doesn't leap from our arms. He is so curious about the world around him - limited only by his physical abilities he can't wait to get out and see (and taste) it all.

In the early days of his fifth month he is beginning to sit without support (it is still a bit of a balancing act, but he's getting there). He notices his bottle as we are preparing it and gets excited for it and he has started to show signs of anguish when we leave out of his sight. I know it will be a whole new world in just a four weeks. I can't wait to make that report.

snow!

2010-12-08T10:59:00.001-08:00

I wanted so bad to document his first snow but wasn't sure how to do it. I bundled him up it what seemed to be the most water proof outfit and headed outside. Now how do I take a picture of a little guy who can't sit, stand, or much of anything. So I looked to my tacky green plastic dining set :), plopped it in the snow, and propped him up. Tacky setting but cute baby :).

I then took him to the park strip and wanted to show just how much it had snowed so I decided to quickly take the plunge and dump him in the snow. I laid him right in it and quickly took some pictures before child protection services could be called and scooped him up. The pictures remind me of A Christmas Story or if someone had abandoned some poor kid on the side of the road...hahaha.

It was his first "snow day" and it was as painful as snow is supposed to be. :)

THREE months and growing strong...

2010-11-11T15:12:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday we celebrated the little guy's three month birthday. Okay, really we did nothing and at the end of the day I panicked and took some pictures to mark the occasion.

Boy he is getting cuter and cuter as anyone who has seen him lately will attest to. :-) Not a ton of changes over the last month except that he is getting HUGE. He weighed in at 14 pounds which puts him at twice as big as he was when he was born.

He is also loving to explore his voice by screaming with delight over and over and over....all with a smile on his face. It is fun to watch. He is genuinely laughing when tickled and tracking his dads all over the room.

He has also started to hold himself up when we put him on his tummy. He can push himself quite high. According to "what to expect the first year" he should be up to a 90 degree angle by the end of this month and he seems to already be there. Pretty amazing. Here is the run down of the third month:

He still loves to spit up - volumes

He still loves to laugh, play, and be sung to.

He LOVES to sit in his bassinet and watch the ceiling fan go - he will squeal at it for enough time for Dad to hop in the shower. Yay!

He will roll over when we put on his tummy over to his back...a lot.

He has started to grab things with his hands and, of course, bring them directly towards his mouth. He started with his bib but has moved to other objects (when placed properly in front of him).

He still LOVES "Hooray for Diffendoofer Day" - which is unfortunate because I now hate it. I am actively looking for new books with bright pictures and rhymes. That is what he likes best. In fact, I just spent $100 on used books from half.com...they should be coming soon. This shows how desperate I am to find a replacement for Diffendoofer Day.

He is still sleeping long hours for the night which is SO awesome. We stopped the swinging action of the swing but he still sleeps in it. For some reason we don't dare put him in the bassinet at night because we are afraid we will not get our sleep. At 11:00 at night that conscience decision is very very hard.

Everyone says how smiley he is - and he is a smiler that is for sure. Although to be honest we only post his smiley pictures for all to see. My ears still ring to prove he can scream with the best of them.

He loves to be a part of the crowd and if adults are having a conversation around him he will lock eyes with you and then scream (usually a happy scream)...it is very funny.

He has started to really enjoy his baths - enough to laugh and smile during them.

His hair is getting so long and so curly!

He has really started to notice the dogs and will stare at them if they come close by.

If he gets a chance to look at the TV he will stare...bad news, huh? So I've been trying to cut down on my TV watching and have instead moved to radio. Kind of a nice change.

We went to California again, and hopefully for the last time unless it is on a vacation or to see friends/family. We set up shop in our apartment and readied it for our post-placement evaluation. We still have our Apartment there so if anyone needs a free place to stay in CA - by all means - USE IT!

Anyway onward to month 4. It is hard to be both anxious to get to know this little guy and be able to talk to him and at the same time wish he could stay this small for ever.

Xanders first major holiday...HALLOWEEN!!!

2010-11-10T21:04:00.000-08:00

Our little guy recently enjoyed his first holiday. Too bad it was two days before the election otherwise we would have had more fun with it. It was fun to dress him up in his outfits he was given and take pictures over the few days of the weekend. We also purchased two big pumpkins - one large enough to stuff him into. As you can see, he seemed to enjoy it.

Grandma gave him this outfit:

Nonnie and Poppi gave him this outfit:

Being a Saturday/Sunday dilemma with Halloween this year the Trick or Treaters took advantage of the confusion - including these little rebels on Sunday!:

All in all a good year...I guess next year we will have to venture out in the cold and help our 1+ year old gather some goodies.

His first "laugh"

2010-10-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made a quick stop by Grandma's for a visit. During the visit I think Grandma taught Xander how to laugh! :-) She was playing with him and he gave a pretty good sustained "talk and squeal." Which seemed to be a collection of the sounds he has been making.

Today at the end of one of my meetings I was about ready to go and I looked down at him and he had a funny grin on his face. I asked him what was so funny and he started to "laugh." I couldn't believe it! It was something he had never done before. A sustained sound of laughter. It was adorable. I realized that what I saw yesterday at Grandma's was the beginning of a new phase for the little guy. Oh it was so cute. (The quality on this one might not be as great due to its loss on my cell phone and then hours upon hours of using recovery programs to finally get it back. I'm thrilled with the results)

2 months old

2010-10-12T19:25:00.001-07:00

I hope my posts become more frequent than monthly but for now these will have to suffice. On Saturday Xander turned 2 months old! What a journey this has been and an exciting adventure to have. The joy of his 1 month birthday, smiling and laughing, has increased ten-fold. His smiles and laughs are now predictable and invokable. He smiles when he sees me or Brandon nearly every time now. What a joy that is!

So what is new this month?

He is now beginning to enjoy baths (somewhat) - which is a nice treat. Although he is still a little weirded out by the experience. Warming the water a bit more and adding to the depth (covering more of his cute nakedness) seems to do the trick (thanks for the advice, fam!). He can entertain himself for periods of time playing on his floor gym, or in his bassinet just having a great time all by himself.

This has been great for freeing up some time to clean bottles, do dishes, switch laundry, or work bits on the numerous little house projects we still have to do. He is SO aware - it is so much fun to see his growing interest in the world around him. I hope he gets a little more aware of/capable with his hands this month so toys will become a tool of engagement.

One of our favorite activities we have discovered is reading! When I first read that reading to the little guy at this young age is important I said, "I can't even hold up his head...what is the point in reading to him?" I quickly learned how wrong I was. Laying next to him on the bed or propping him up on my lap is a great way to read to him - and he LOVES it. He'll laugh, coo, stretch and smile at the book. His favorite book is Hooray for Diffindoofer Day by Dr. Seuss. I think the bright colors and rhythmic nature of the book helps. :-) What a fine time that is with my little guy. Grandma also gave us a few good ones like A Fly Flew By - which I like. :-)

Poor guy still has to get dragged to ALL my meetings and events. The entirety of the Democratic community in Salt Lake County knows him and loves him. We have received so many gifts, congratulations, and well wishes. What a loving and generous place we live. The great thing is there are always a million people wanting to hold him and give me a break! Such a young guy to be hanging out with County Councilmen and candidates for public office!

Right on his birthday we had a great event at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was a BBQ shower to introduce Xander to all the family who hadn't seen the little guy yet. Most notably among those, the Roarks who missed his birth this summer by just a few days! It was so nice of them to drive 12 hours to come and see him. He loves his cousin Tanner, Kali, and Kaden and his Aunt Mim and Uncle Kev. We also had the pleasure of his Poppi coming out to stay with us. Thanks to Grandma for hosting the event with endless help from Amy, Kim, and Chelsea to make it a great evening. LOVE YOU ALL. It was also so great to introduce the little guy to his extended family.

Sad news for the month is that he had his first round of vaccinations at the Dr.'s office on Monday. Poor little guy. However, he handled it very well and seems to have no ill effects.

Finally, a historical note (yes, I am an advocate of the "a" historical vs the "an" historical) - four days before Xander was born 33 miners were trapped in a mine in Chile and 4 days after his 2 month b-day they were rescued. Kind of brings an interesting perspective and historical intrigue to the first couple months of the little guys life.

nicknames of note for this month: boobie, z-bub, dude, bubby, baby

1 Month Old

2010-09-22T21:28:00.001-07:00

I can't believe how quickly the time has flown. Granted 9 days of his life was spent waiting in Wichita, but wow - one full month has gone by and our little man is 1 month old (okay, I realize this post is late and he is older than that now, but work with me). He is chunkin' up a bit - you can see it in his legs and his face.

The neatest thing happened the other day. On Sunday, the 12th, we were laying in bed with him and I was using my finger to simulate a missile coming to hit his tummy. Suddenly I had never seen him focus so much one spot. I noted it to Brandon as we played. Sure enough, it seems like the right synapse in his brain had just clicked. The next few days were filled with more "smiles" and "laughs" then I've ever seen! How fun is that! Sure they are in the early stages - but they ain't no gas smiles anymore. It is so fun to see the little guy develop and grow before our eyes. It makes me excited for tomorrow to see what new thing he will do. Lately he has been totally content laying down by himself looking at a mobile or toy hanging from above. He'll stare at it for a while and then give out a "laugh." His "laugh's" are a little like a squeak - but not like a mouse - more like a squeal.

This video shows him laugh a bit right at the beginning (then spit up) then the rest isn't too exciting - but his eyebrow raise about half-way through is worth listening to me go on and on- Ha!).

He is also so strong. His can pretty much keep his head up by himself now and when placed on his tummy, given enough time, he'll flip himself over to his back. He loves to stand up (with full support of dad, of course) and stare around the room. He loves to walk around the neighborhood and see the trees (or the light filtering through those funny dark objects). He has been sleeping pretty good - in fact, the other night we got an 8 hour night! WAHOOOO!!!! Usually he will sleep in 5 or 6 hour chunks which is pretty good. Let's see how long that'll hold out.

Here's a fun comparison

2 days old:

1 month old:

What a cute little guy. We are so lucky to have him!

The return home

2010-09-21T18:13:00.001-07:00

It was so great to see so many people when we got back from Wichita. If Alexander only had any idea how many people flocked to our house to see him and demanded we brought him to places and events he would know truly how much he is loved. Overtime he will see what a great community of family and friends he is a part of.

Thank you for all the well wishes, congratulations, and gifts. You are all the best!

PS - Roarkies - we look forward to your first.

Alexander Russell Clark

2010-09-09T22:09:00.001-07:00

Born August 9, 2010
7 lbs 6.8 oz
18.5 in tall

After a one-year process of endless paperwork, physicals, meetings, financial disclosures, and of the doling out of thousands of dollars Brandon and I were able to grow our family by one. On April 25th we were matched with a woman who lived in Wichita, Kansas who was looking for a loving home for her baby. She chose Brandon and me and the rest is history (a endlessly roller coaster of a history).

Here is the story of his birth:

On August 8th Brandon and I flew out to Wichita for the anticipated c-section birth of Xander. Our journey was a grand one from the beginning as just two days before that we found out we could be in Wichita for two weeks! How do you pack for the birth of your child, for two weeks, in a place you never really been. So many unknowns!!!

The first part of our trip was comically focused around finding a freezer for our breast-milk (Thanks Amy and Chelsea for starting off our little guy on the right foot!)! The clock of its defrosting started when we left our house so by the time we arrived in Wichita we were already concerned it was going to be melted. Luckily it was okay but we needed to get it into a freezer quick! When we got our car we just about drove away but decided it smelled too much of smoke and we didn't want our new son breathing that nasty air. So we waited to have it replaced...45 mins later we were on the road, milk slightly less frozen. We went to the hotel we had booked and found out there was a mistake and we didn't have the room until the next day. Yikes! So we quickly searched for a close hotel that had a freezer. Milk thawing... We quickly drove to the new hotel and I ran to the room with our cooler of milk. Mistake! No freezer in this room. The hotel staff then spent the next 30 mins looking for a room that for sure had at least a freezer section in the small room fridge. Finally - success!

Later that evening we got together with the birthmom of our son for dinner at Applebees. This was Brandon's first meeting but my second since I had come out a couple of weeks before to visit. After exchanging stories and getting to know one another a bit more we headed back to the hotel for our LAST night as a childless couple. We were nervous, excited, scared, happy, and just about everything else that night.

Before we knew it, it was time to head to the hospital. We packed up our gear - checked out of the hotel - and headed to the Via Christie Hospital (yes, a Catholic hospital - gay couple adopting a baby in a Catholic Hospital in the middle of Kansas - *gulp). Once we got there we headed up to the hospital room to meet up with birthmom and her good friend. The doctors came in and prepared mom for the impending surgery. Not too long after that mom and friend headed to the operating room - too bad for us - only one person allowed.

We went out into the waiting room and began our 3 hour wait before we got to see our baby. While waiting the white knight of the whole process showed up - Joann, our Wichita social worker. We had never met her but she was there to ensure the process in Kansas went well. She not only was an advocate for the birthmom but an advocate for us - especially for our rights as the future parents of our son. She stayed with us for quite some time while we waited. We knew birthmom would have to go into surgery for about an hour..then recover for 1 to 2 hours. One hour after we left mom while we were in the waiting room chatting with Joann we heard a voice come over the intercom. Shorter after 10:40 AM a recorded message announced to the hospital that a "new baby has been born!" We knew this was our son!

Then the real waiting game began because we weren't sure how soon we were going to see him. While we waited Joann helped us establish a hospital room next to the birthmom's room so that we could both share in the experience of his birth. About an hour after the intercom announcement the birthmom's friend came out of the recovery room with the first pictures and video of our son. What an awesome experience. As I write this now I can remember how awesome that felt to see him. Having some time to digest it all I can now better realize how amazing that experience really was. An hour later while we were getting set in our room and passing time by browsing the internet and chatting birthmom arrived with baby in tow! I saw him first and quickly ran over and picked him up off of the wheeled bed birthmom was laying on.

I was holding my son. W O W.

I quickly passed him on to Brandon for his first hold. It was one of those surreal moments that are so fleeting. It is one of those moments where you feel so compelled to take pictures endlessly trying to capture the moment but in reviewing the pictures it never feels the same - because a camera can never pick up the emotion, the excitement, and the sensations of holding your son for the very first time.
From that moment on we have had the little guy. Other than brief visits over to birthmom.

The night of his birth we had narrowed our names for the little guy down to four - Connor, Carter, Owen, and Zachary. Funny that we ended up with non of them. For some reason none of them fit. So we went back to the first name we had chosen months ago - Alexander.

We stayed at the hospital for two nights. We had him both nights and cherished every moment of it. It was somewhat awkward with all the hospital staff coming in and some seeming like they were less than approving of this adoption. Was it adoption in general? Was it this birthmom? Was it this adoptive family? Who knows. Who cares. A few close-minded people were not going to ruin this experience for us. These two days flew by. He passed all his health checks with flying colors and they let us go Wednesday morning, August 11th.

Funny story here - hospital policy required that the baby was transported out of the hospital being carried by someone, presumably mom, in a wheelchair. This makes sense if the person carrying baby out had just been through a major surgery. Me - I had to make a 70-year old woman push my fat a** in a wheel chair out the front door past all the strange looks and odd jeers of the hospital staff and visitors. After a somewhat emotional goodbye to birthmom (she was staying until that evening, but we knew we'd see her again before leaving Wichita) we headed out to freedom....sort of.

Due to the complications of laws involved in the process we had to stay in Kansas for a few days - up to and possibly over two weeks. We weren't sure how long but had settled in for the long haul. We stayed at the Value Place hotel - a rent-by-the-week place which had a full kitchen. Not glamorous - but did the job. We begin our new routine of bottle-warming, breastmilk thawing, formula mixing, sleep interrupting, cooing, kissing, and cuddling. What a new world - and what a strange place to do it.

Luckily we had a couple of visitors to give us a hand and give us some much needed family company.

The day after our release Grandma came to help out and meet her new grandchild. The next day his grandma (Nonnie - pronounced No-knee) on Brandon's side of the family came too. It was so great to have them there if anything to break up the monotony of the small hotel room. They also gave us confidence to leave the hotel room and endless, needed, motherly advice. It was so great to have them there.

While it was so annoying that we had to stay there as long as we did we can also look at the silver lining - we got to spend uninterrupted, priceless hours bonding with our son. How many people get to do that? We quickly adjusted to life in a hotel room with baby in the pack-n-play. We learned all the ins and outs of bottle use and sleepless nights. It was an amazing and memorable time of our new young family's life.

Finally 9 days after we had arrived and 8 days after we got there we got the okay to leave the state. We had to get all the papers signed and so we headed over to birthmom's house for our last visit and all the paper/legal work. This was one of the more emotional moments of the trip - the big goodbye. While birthmom was resolved in her decision it was still a sad and happy moment for everyone. We signed all the paperwork without problem, gave hugs to everyone, and headed to the airport.

Our flight had a layover in Colorado for a couple hours so we were able to see Brandon's sister, Xander's new cousins, his uncle and his grandpa (Poppi). It was so great to see them on our way!

Then finally we got home. It was so nice to see the girls and be home at last. We were quickly getting tons of visitors from family and friends. It was so great to be back home and feel the warmth and love from so many people. Once the glow was over we quickly settled into our new "routine" which from here on out will be known as Xander's Xoo.

An Excited Girly Pirly

2010-05-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I've posted something about exercising the dogs these days. Since we got Lily we've had to take the opportunity of quiet mornings at the all-enclosed tennis courts in the Avenues. It is the only place I can take them and let Lily run around without causing problems with the neighboring dogs.

From the moment I suggest that we are going to the "park" to the moment we get to the park this is what Lacey sounds like...she gets SO excited! As you can see from the video - in order to get us there in a "timely fashion" she won't let me drive and will do it herself :-)

They do get quickly exhausted though from all the fun:

Basement Remodel Day 110

2010-03-12T00:14:00.000-08:00

It is almost 2:00 in the morning...I can't sleep.

Can't get "life" out of my head. Too much going on. Too much to stress about.

One of my favorite stresses right now is the Basement Remodel. Since I haven't updated our progress since the end of November I thought an insomniac post was in order. (all spelling and grammatical mistakes can be owned up to my sleep pattern this morning)

End of November Brandon's parents (The superstars of my last post) came out to help us tear out one of the shelves in our basement. After Christmas they came back to do it again. That was a huge long process with constant hard labor...digging...pounding...prying...everything-ing. Wow - how GREAT to have their help. How nice of them to come out here on their vacation time to do hard labor.

But that was the the start.

Since then we have continued to push the project forward. Luckily we have had the talented help and endless generosity of our family to get us going.

Even if everyone hasn't been able to come and help the fact that everyone has been so willing to help it gave us the courage to actually do it!

After Brandon's parents left to go back home we had to call on the Utah clan to help out. Bro-in-law and framing saint, Jake, has spent multiple Saturday's/Sunday's yelling 2x4 sizes for me to cut while he uses his expertise to know what to put where. We'd be lost without him. I'd say at this point we are about 95% done with framing. We are SO close. One more good day and I bet we are done. As an added bonus to Jake coming over we have the Astle troop here a lot as well. Deeters loves to climb all over everything and Tay loves to "help" as much as he can. And then there is Chelsea - the woman who knows how to keep at least one kid on her hip and clean a basement like you've never seen before!

Our other super helper...and when I say super helper I mean - jack of all trades, building expert, 10 life experiences in one life, father extraordinaire - my Dad. He's been here (sometimes dragging wife or son along) to build walls, dig holes, offer advice/direction/criticism/opinion, and most recently rewire our 100-year-old house. Wow. There is no way we could have done it without him.

This old house, once powered by an old knob and tube system (scary), is probably close to 95% wired up, including the new addition, and NO more knob and tube! Of course, this process has included hours of climbing through the moon-like surface of our attic (mostly Brandon) which has put inches of dust in my lungs, Brandon's lungs, and all over the house.

Done so far: Digging, building wall, carving for laundry, plumbing rough in, most framing, most wiring

Need to do: cut out larger basement window, insulate, sheetrock, paint, carpet, enjoy

Our journey in pictures:

In the beginning:

Above: one of the "great" ideas Jake had was to carve out just a bit more of our shelves to create a built in pedestal for a new front-load washer and dryer. No big deal - just another week+ of digging/carving/hauling (Brandon did most of this).

Above: A moment of clean...we had three giant loads of dirt to haul out. The first two were from the wall (you can faintly see the line in the difference in concrete where the old wall was...that dirt filled the area to the left of the line twice. That dirt was conveyored out. The third load was from the Laundry area (above) and the new plumbing lines. That was hauled out by hand - mostly by Brandon

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Above: One of the most thrilling moments is we wanted to "sink" the support beam for the whole house in the sections that would be doorways so that we could get through without ducking. This is the end result. Yes, we were terrified our house would collapse. Good thing we trust Jake.

Above: Our new furnace being put in. We got a new high efficiency furnace with a super air filter and humidifier, new ducts, and new vents upstairs. The best part is we were without heat for 3 weeks in the middle of January. Luckily we own a couple super space heaters.

Above: Some of the holes we had to jack-hammer out and dig out for our new plumbing for the new bathroom downstairs.

Above: The girlies like to be by us while we work, they don't like it when we are up in the attic (barking at us from the bottom of the ladder), and in turn track dirt all over the house. Result:

Above: Lacey's Bathwater

Above: A wet, yet clean, Sue.

And finally here is where we are now. Things are looking good!

A little messy...but it's coming together

Above: There is our shwanky new laundry area...was it worth it? I think so.

Above: We moved the entire electrical box downstairs....what a task. The hours Dad and Jake have spent over here...we are SO grateful.

Onward soldiers!

The Basement

2009-11-29T13:55:00.000-08:00

As many of you know we decided we need to finish and expand our basement. Early on in the process we tried to find any information we could possibly find on removing shelves in old basements and couldn't find a thing. So we went on our own. First we hired an engineer to come look at our basement and give us a plan on how we can at least reduce the size of it. Brandon's dad drew up some plans for how our whole basement would look and we then went to the city for a permit. The permit process was a pain in the you-know-what. In order to make the basement livable we had to expand one of the windows. Since we live in the historic district we had to get approval for the window change. That was going to take a couple of weeks! We were on a time crunch since Brandon's parents were flying out here for a week to help us out. So furiously for two weeks we got approval for the sewer, switched the window we were going to change to one not visible from the street called in a favor or two and wallah got the approval the day after his parents arrived.

But the work only began then. And it has a long way to go still.

But here is work we have done so far.

This is mid-way through the shelf removal process. Oh joy.

We had some amazingly thick concrete to pound through.

And we somehow generated TONS of dirt...seemingly more than we took out...strange how it grows.

We put together a contraption of conveyor belts to the dumpster on the street and started pushing out the dirt...it moved quickly which was MUCH better than buckets of dirt up the stairs.

And after days of hard labor we have no finished 1/2 the digging and 1/2 the wall....we still have the rest of the wall to tear out and half the wall to build. Then a floor and cap off the new smaller shelf...all for 2 1/2 feet of extra space :-), but it is crucial space, I am told.

Our wall handiwork

Thanks to Brandon's Parents for coming out to help us and provide their expertise. It was amazing!!! They both worked tremendously hard on our behalf and I can't thank them enough.

Now for those of you feeling guilt for not having helped so far... no worries. There is still lots to do! :-)

Paris & Barcelona

2009-10-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

For my non-facebook family (Amy) here is a post on our European trip!

On Thursday the 8th of October we began our long journey on a direct flight to Paris from Salt Lake. It was PACKED - as all our flights ended up being. Who knew there was such a demand to go to Paris from little 'ol Utah?

After managing to watch the dim-lit circa-1982 "big screen" movie on the front of the cabin of the airplane called "Imagine That" (it was a REAL treat, let me tell ya) I managed to fall asleep, as was the plan, so that we could have our first full day in Paris as soon as we got there.

We left Salt Lake City at 4:00 PM and arrived Paris at 11:00 AM the next day (approx. 3 AM SLC time). But our day was just beginning. We wheeled our bags through the narrow streets of Paris looking for our hotel finally finding it and checking in. We then begin our next few days of Paris sightseeing.

Highlights included historic walks of Paris neighborhoods, the Louvre, the Orsay Museum, and Sacre Coeur. For a couple of days Brandon's ex-roommate from Law School, Sabrina, joined us since she now lives in London.

After Paris we flew to Barcelona, Spain to try a part of Europe neither of us had ever been to. We had a GREAT time. We thought we would have down time that we'd fill by going to the beach, but instead we filled every moment sight seeing in this beautiful city. We saw 1992 Olympic locales, Gaudi architecture, Picasso and other famous/historic art, and a thriving city centered on the touristy shopping street called "Las Ramblas." We had a great time and it was hard to come back.

The Ongoing Attack of the Dust Spider!

2009-08-06T14:51:00.000-07:00

Many of you have already seen some evidence of our "dust spider" phenomenon through pictures on my phone. Here are the higher quality photos.

A while back I went to bed after having just worked on my computer. When I got up the next morning this essence of spider was marked upon my computer. How was it left? What kind of spider would leave such a mark of evil as this? We thought that maybe there was something having to do with the electronics of the computer...don't know what...just a theory. I googled "dust spider"and found nothing. There the marked stayed for a few days until it was accidentally wiped off.

Whew...what a strange, rare, and bizarre thing to see....but it was gone. We'd never see something like that again...right??

We arrived home one night, flipped on the lights, and screamed in horror!

DUST SPIDER TWO!

Perched on our recently dusted secretary desk in our kitchen this shape, just like the other one, was the dust remains of another spider who had left it's deathly mark. Or maybe it was the same one? A spider that leaves its mark to let us know...it was here....

bizarre.

So we thought it was all done...nothing more to see here, right?

NO!

While straightening a desk in the office I was moving a bin of Red vines which I had purchased as a gift for someone when I noticed that the dust spider had returned...or another had left its remains...or whatever...

DUST SPIDER THREE!

When will we see the dust spider mark again? We don't know. Maybe it is a foreboding sign of things to come...maybe...we don't know.

But if one day you hear that I have died please have them check my body. For there could be somewhere on my corpse the mark of....THE DUST SPIDER!

Puppies, Playing, and Parking

2009-05-26T16:33:00.000-07:00

From Teton Phone Pics

I thought I would do a quick post with a few more fun pictures. These were from my phone and are mostly of my cute puppy dogs and our Teton trip. They both love to be on my lap in the car - and me being the pushover I let them. They have grown to like each other very much as you can see in the picture above. Notice Lacey's tongue is hanging out - she gets that way when she is really relaxed.

From Teton Phone Pics

Then we stopped off at Mom and Dad's cabin on the way home. This was the first time since we've had Lily that she was able to freely run around. We've been working hard with her and now can be around Kai without killing her. Fun enough we watched one of our old foster dogs, Toby (now Reuben - although we still call him Toby) this weekend - and they got along great! Normally to get her good exercise our only option is the tennis courts - but during the summer they are often being used. She loved it! Thanks Mom and Dad!

From Teton Phone Pics

Finally on Friday of last week my sisters and I got together with mom and dad for our weekly Friday Lunch. This time we went to Liberty Park. It was lots of fun. The kids (and some adults) got to ride some of those old amusement park rides at the Park. Honestly, I didn't even know they ran anymore. Then we fed the ducks and ate some great food. Fun to hang out, as always - but of course we always miss the Roarks!

From Liberty Park