Happy Birthday Mama!

The day Libby was born, I decided that birthdays are a joke. I resolved then and there that one year from that day, when Libby had a birthday, we would celebrate me rather than her. :) I mean really, what did she do that wondrous March 5? At that point, I thought when March 5 came around it should be a mama appreciation day. However.... March 5ths have come and gone and they've been all about the beautiful little lady who made her appearance before the sun came up on a sleepy snowy day in a beautiful mountain town. Likewise, August 14 has been about me (rather than about my mom, who, according to my earlier sentiment, should have been showered by my appreciation just last week) and this year proved to be no exception. So, thank you mom for everything you endured to deliver your most beautiful and wonderful, brilliant, generous, kind, loving (oh i could go on and on), humble child. And thanks for helping to make my bday great!

Of course, my lovebugs made my day special as well. I awoke to roses, and an anxious Libby presenting me with gifts that she and Xander and daddy had specially picked out for me. She was thrilled with the bracelet she got me, and still is. She was so sweet and thoughtful about it. She specifically wanted to get me a bracelet that was stretchy, because one of her dance teachers had "a bracelet on her ankle and i just thought that you would like to have a bracelet on your ankle too, so this one is stretchy and you can wear it on your wrist or on your ankle." Mom and Dad took the kids and me out to lunch, and then we met up with my wonderful hubby for dinner. The picture above is of Libby and Daddy at the restaurant. Xander was originally in the picture, but I had to crop him out because trust me, he was too covered in whatever food I had been feeding him and he looked quite orange and disgusting. Not even cute disgusting, just dirty. :)

After we got home we put the little guy to bed and enjoyed some german chocolate cake (my favorite) that Libby and Daddy baked and frosted while I was out the night before. It was a fun surprise (that saved mom time, and saved me from having to bake my own cake. :)

So, it was a very fun day that merged into a very fun weekend. And all the glory goes to our great God, for his mercy and grace and will to sustain me for yet another year. I praise Him!

Fun in the Sun... and shade

Here are a couple of pics from a lazy afternoon spent playing outside. Libby got to enjoy our own version of backyard water park: sprinkler on the playground. Xander enjoyed chillin' on the shady deck with mama.

say what?

10 Months and Growing Strong

On Sunday, my little man turned 10 months old. How quickly time is passing by. Xander is a handful, to be sure, but such a sweet one. He is the smiliest guy, and easily charms many passers by as well as our dear friends. His smile is getting toothier, he has 4 on top and 2 on bottom. Of course he takes his teething pain out on mama's shoulder, but we're working on that. In fact, after testing me several times yesterday, it seems that he might have just made the connection that biting mama's shoulder yields a stern "no". Through the pain, I enjoyed watching him think through the sequence (bite, be scolded, pause and think, bite, ...).

Xander is becoming more and more mobile. He's up on his feet whenever he can be, and does some scooting along with the furniture. His big sister took her first big steps at 10 months of age, and I was so excited for her. The Lord has blessed me greatly by slowing things down regarding this particular milestone for Xander. Personally, I'm not ready to chase a walker/runner yet. He's quite quick on his hands and knees and has already managed to get into all sorts of mischief with his limited mobility (climbing into the dry bathtub, pulling the gate down and trying to go down the stairs.... twice -- I need to add a Praise the Lord to that one too, it's a miracle he didn't fall down them --, dumping dog water onto the floor and playing in it multiple times, hiding under a tablecloth and eating play-doh, oh the list goes on and on).

Foods Xander loves: cheese, peas, puffs, sweet potatoes, toast, beans
Games Xander loves: chase me (oh he crawls so speedily and giggles so hard, it's so precious), peek-a-boo, jumping, being tickled
Words Xander says: daddy, da-da (those two constantly), mama, ett (eat), waves bye-bye, nigh-nigh, tons of jabber and tries to repeat us frequently... he's a motormouth. and a LOUD motormouth when he's hungry.

Here are some pictures of our time at home on a lazy Sunday afternoon, while we played quite crazily and then paused to take some pictures, and let Libby do the same.

Girl Time

On Friday, Libby's friend Emiliana came over to play and the girls had a great time. It was a lot of fun to see them play together, picnicking, taking care of baby dolls, dressing up as princesses.... everything girl. And let me tell you, these girls can jump on the bed like no other. Hope that's okay Sheri! :)

Weekend at the Lake, Take 2

We went to the lake with some friends a couple of weeks ago. I took a few pics of our Friday in the water.... it was just the perfect day!

Aunt Em went with us and we all had a lot of fun!

Daddy spent some of Saturday morning lounging with the girlies.

Little Friends

Here are some pics of Xander with little friends.

Xander and Elijah met for the first time last weekend. Elijah's mom and dad are good friends of ours from college. We love the size difference. Xander is actually 2 weeks older than Elijah, though Elijah weighs 24 pounds compared to Xander's 16. :)

Here, Xander visits with his little friend Abby. He likes her.

Lake Mac

Last weekend we went to Lake Mac to see our family. We had a really good time hanging out and enjoying creation. It was a beautiful day at the lake!

swimming...

i had to crop him out of a family pic that didn't turn out. but he couldn't look cuter.

daddy took libby down to the little lake to skip rocks. she was being silly when mama got the camera out, but i liked it.

lunchtime at the lake is a bit more complicated than at home....

Sunday afternoon

this was fun. Sarah stopped by and had her friend Takuki with her. In a moment of brilliance mama remembered Libby's book, "Where are you going? To see my friend!" which tells the same story in english and japanese. Aunt Sarah and Takuki read the story to Libby and she thought it was pretty cool. To be sure, the Japanese half sounded better when Takuki read it than when mama does. :)

Xander takes his first swing in his new 10*10 car.

Shrimp on the Barbey

Summer fun...

kids these days

One Saturday morning I crawled out of bed, stumbled into the den and saw this.....

Daddy's on the wii, Libby's online, Barns just got done texting Trixie and Turbo... and Xander's not in the picture, he was off dowloading some new games for his blackberry.

Zoo Dayz

When was this... I don't know. It's been too long since I blogged and sorted through photos. One fine Saturday morning, in July, Aunt Sarah, Daddy, L&X and I headed to the zoo. It was fun. And we had the biggest ice creams ever.

I'm thinking a brilliant photographic visionary would have had me pucker up and kiss that elephant right on the noggen. But, we didn't think of that. Still, I liked this pic.

Inside the new butterfly pavilion there is a huuuge beehive. Brian's face says it all, and Libby can't help but notice all the bees coming and going through that tube by daddy's arm. Fascinating.

These are the butterflies that are yet to be. I think they're the first cocoons I've ever seen in real life. Pretty cool.

Inside the pavilion.

Outside the pavilion (behind the guys).

We were sure to hit feeding time for the sea lions and were quite impressed by the enormity and intelligence of Dino, this big guy. He's reportedly over 900 pounds. You can't put his size into perspective until he glides out of that pool and onto the sidewalk for his late lunch. The sea lions in the background are so much littler!

Here, Dino performs to earn his fish. He obeyed several commands, similar to a dog, prior to getting each bite. I didn't get the picture, but he even offered up a big smile at one point. I like him. And have I mentioned that we have the best zoo? It's really a great one, and we're so blessed to live so close and be able to take the kids there for fun, relatively easy, educational outings. You should come visit and we'll take you to the zoo.