Christmas in pictures

1 hour at a time... oh boy...

I believe that Dax is trying to kill me, slowly, and sleep deprivation is his weapon of choice. ha! Okay so here's what's going on. Dax will not sleep alone, in his crib at night for more than an hour at a time. He will nap in there for up to 3 hours but at night it's up and down. He will, however, snooze on the couch with me for about 3 hours at a time. I am SO tired of my couch! He was doing so well with sleeping for at least 4 hours at a time but now we're back to where we were hmm... a year ago??? Any suggestions? I am not a fan of crying it out so don't even try to suggest that one... at this point I'm thinking I just keep doing what I'm doing- putting him back in his crib and hopefully he'll snap out of it... hopefully...

Family pictures 2010

last day of November!

WOW! I almost missed writing a post in November 2010! Good thing I'm doing it today. :-p

I've felt like I have nothing to write because really there isn't a ton going on in our lives right now. We do have a ton of snow which Dax thinks he can mow with his toy lawn mower. He does not like to be put in the snow. He cries and cries but he does love being outside, just not in the snowbank. Ha!

So Mr. Dax is a walking machine. He is getting very quick and has almost lost his 'drunk old man' stagger. :-) He's not quite up to running yet but will be very soon!

His word bank is getting larger too- he says Mom, Dad, Gigi, Papa, Bill, Dog, Kitty, Tractor, Duck, and Num Num... and we're going to be working hardcore on Grandma and Grandpa! He also knows how to sign for All Done... although it's more of waving at you than the actual sign but we know what he's saying so it works. Trying to work on 'more' and 'please' in sign language. The daycare ladies do sign language with them as well so hopefully he'll pick those up soon. :-)

He's FINALLY decided that 'big boy' food is good! He will eat just about everything we eat. It's made me actually cook dinner every night which is a good thing. :-) He loves eating Num Nums. cinnamon toast waffles and ritz crackers are probably his favorite.

We've also discovered that Dax has a sensitive side. He does NOT like it when the other kids cry at daycare. He either watches them very closely or starts to cry with them. Oh man does Dax love daycare. Now when I visit at lunch time he doesn't stay in my lap the whole time but will play with his friends and the toys and just come check on me a little. It's wonderful. I love that he is secure enough to not need to be right in my lap all the time. :-)

SO my struggle is trying to figure out how to write a Christmas letter this year. I used to do one every year but it's been 3 years since I wrote one...wonder if I still have it in me. :-p Stay tuned... maybe I'll post what I come up with. ha!

Happy Birthday Dax!

Oh my gosh I have a 1 year old! What on Earth?

Today happens to not only be Halloween but it is the day we finally came home from the hospital with Dax. Now he is a healthy little boy. Emphasis on the little- he is only in the 2nd percentile for height! Our Dr. told me "don't worry about this but... it seems he has your height." Poor Dax. Course his head is 95th so at least he's got some brains up there. :-)

We were planning a big birthday party for our little man but I came down with a horrible flu the night before. Dustin came down with it two days later. Such a bummer. We did have all the grandparents out for dinner, cake and presents. It was fun and Dax did such a good job opening presents. Was not a big fan of the cake once he realized it was cold- it was an ice cream cake.

Let's see Dax is 21 pounds and 26 3/4 inches long. This time last year he was 6 pounds, 12 ounces and 18 1/2 inches long. What a difference a year makes.

He is walking. Still like a drunk old man but walking just the same. He is a speed demon crawler and would much rather crawl than walk.

He is always trying to say new words. Just last night as I was opening a new tractor toy for him he said "Tractor, Vroom, Vroom" It was so cute.


Dax is such a good hugger. He loves to wrap his arms around your neck and put his head on your shoulder. This might be one of my favorite things that he does....although I pretty much love everything he does.

One of my not so favorite things that he has started doing is when he gets mad or doesn't like when I correct him or move him away from something he yells back. Oh it is NOT okay with me. Dustin and I both call him on it and tell him "No" so hopefully we'll nip it in the bud.

He is just growing so fast and is just so much fun.

It's raining and Dax is asleep

Rowdy


Roxie

So because of the weather and my son's long nap I thought I better write a post except... I had no idea what to write. Then it came to me... actually one of our new kittens jumped up onto the window sill and I remebered that they are the newest addition to our family.

I knew we would need kitties when we moved to the farm and there haven't been any kitty residents here in several year. We also had a mouse which is the quickest way to get me motivated to find some cats. Luckily Dustin's parents and their neighbor had 2 kittens dropped off at there houses which is how Roxie and Rowdy came to be ours.

Dax is in love with these kitties and will often crawl as fast as he can to the window to check them out. Roxie could really take or leave him but I think Rowdy loves him almost as much as Dax loves Rowdy. :-) Rowdy will rub on the glass of the window as Dax beats his chubby little hands against the pane. It really is so cute.

I sure hope they don't live up to their nickname (given by Dustin) of coyote bait....

back to school, in daycare and enjoying our new house!

I might cry! I had a more than 4 paragraph post written and all of a sudden it disappeared! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!! All that remained was the title.... that is total crap y'all! It was a good one too! Let's see if I can recreate it....

Well I'm back to my 4th year of school. We are moved into a beautiful new building and I'm sharing an office (with walls and a door that can't be made smaller!!) my buddy Lynnette. Oh how I love 'living' with her each day. okay so this year is going well... ok that might be just a slight fib... it's going good now but ya know when you feeling like you're just barely hanging on with your finger tips? Oh yeah that was me the last umm 3 weeks? This week is feeling better, like my head if getting above the water. I think that is the start of every year just getting things back in the swing of things. So I must tell you, I'm trying to have a better attitude this year in so many different ways. I really believe that deciding how you want to live makes a big difference. I am deciding that especially with work I am going to have a good attitude- I want to be more positive, I want to be more of an encourager and remember to smile more. I'm hoping it works because I think that it will. SO if I start grumbling too much remind me to see the sunshine for the rain because that's what I'm gonna try to do. It's gonna sprinkle but I'm going to try to see those little rays of sunshine coming through. :-) CAN YOU BELIEVE I've BEEN HERE FOR 4 YEARS?!?!?! WOWZA!

Daycare... Daycare... DAYCARE??? Oh my gosh! Yes, Dax is in daycare and we are so blessed. The daycare is downstairs in our gorgeous building and we are blessed with some WONDERFUL ladies to love on Dax when I can't and to take care of him when I need to be working. I am just so grateful for that. I was truly worried that on the 2nd week (or 2nd day) of daycare that Dax would burst into tears as soon as we saw the building. That hasn't happened, in fact I'd say (if he could walk) that he has a little pep in his step. He really does love it. He was some sweet little friends including cutie Ruby who calls him D-aaa-x in an airy little voice and Ty who has some serious conversations with Dax (I guess it kind of sounded like they were cussing eachother out last week).

Speaking of Mr. Dax- he is growing like a weed! He is a speed racer crawler, walks around all the furniture, has stood by himself, but thank goodness still likes a good cuddle! Oh he is such a sweet boy. Can you believe that in just 11 short days he will be 11 months? WHAT?!? No way Jose, I'm sorry but I'm not ready for this but he really is just so much fun. He says Mom (when he is upset), Dad, dog and kitty but Dad and dog are for sure his favorite! He loves the "d" sound. Dad and dog are almost always coming out of his mouth. :-) As soon as we get out of the car at home he is already looking for Dakota. He is in love with her and can't get enough of watching her. We walk past the window and he says 'dog, dog, dog' it's too cute. Oh and he's mastered the two steps from the living room to the dining room. It was kind of funny though because when we tried to get a video of him mastering the stairs he of course tumbled down them (don't worry they are well carpeted and padded). He does this super cute crab walk down the two steps- oh I am giggling now thinking about it! It really is too cute!

Okay the house, I'm going to speak for the three of us and say that we are getting pretty settled in. The only room not set up is the 'man cave.' Maybe that will be his winter project. :-) It is SO nice to have so much more room and not feel like we're on top of each other all the time. Dax love crawling all over and thinks it's funny to crawl in a circle around the kitchen. Going to start some landscape projects soon- there were some scraggly (is that a word?) juniper bushes that just need to go so Dustin is excited to pull them out. woo-hoo! Already took the 'before' pictures.

Okay now for some pictures...