Hmmm.. How can I put off packing? I know! I'll update my blog!

There's a great excuse huh? I thought so too! Well, we have less than a week left here in good ol' Rexburg and I can't exactly say I've been counting down the days! Warning! This post will feature some venting. Leave now if you don't want to hear it!

Aside from the agonizing chore of packing, I have been feeling a lot of pressure from people over the past month. It's as if everything I do offends someone in some way and it is exhausting. Those who I thought knew me well have begun to assume outrageously and it is just insulting. The other night I was so wound up my head hurt, my neck hurt, my shoulders hurt.. I almost felt like I was going to be sick. It's hard to blow things off and give people the benefit of the doubt before you start to feel like a door mat, or worry that you are going to scream at them the next time you see them. Okay, my rant is finished. Thank you for your patience :)

Anyway, Axel continues to grow and amaze us! He is about 3 months and 2 weeks old now and his developments are so far pretty by-the-book. He loves to stand (not on his own of course) and sit up. We are working on his balance while sitting but he's not quite ready to do it on his own yet. He loves bath time more than anything (except his Mommy of course)! For awhile we were taking baths together because he outgrew his baby bath, and I LOVED taking baths with him, but it became a bit time consuming drying both of us off and getting both of us dressed every time. Now, I fill up the bath about 3 inches and he lays on his back and splashes away! He is also old enough to "play" with all his little baby toys. This has been really fun for me to watch. He'll sit in my lap and I will hold a toy up for him, or shake it or do whatever with it that it is supposed to do and Axel will bat at the toy and try to grip it, and as of today try to put it in his mouth! Yes, the everything-in-the-mouth phase has begun!




CAPTAIN DROOLY PANTS!

Thanksgiving, Fingers & Toes

Wow. What a fantastic Thanksgiving break we had! I think this one was extra special because the three of us had so much time to hang out together! As I've mentioned before, Jordan stays pretty busy with school, so having him all to ourselves for an entire week was quite a treat for Axel and I!

Our holiday vacation started with a drive to Boise. When we first arrived, we went to see our dear friend Sarah Nokleby sing in "Hymns of Thanksgiving". About 10 minutes into the program, Axel must have decided he wanted to be involved too because he started screaming at the top of his lungs and we had to leave.



We spent the next couple of days visiting friends from Jordans mission and running errands. I also had to teach two classes at one of the beauty schools in Boise while we were there, so that took up pretty much an entire day for us. On Wednesday morning we woke up early, piled into the van (yes, in case you didn't know.. we drive a minivan.. and I LOVE it... never say never folks..).. and headed to San Francisco! Last year Jordan and I went to San Fran for Thanksgiving and we wanted to do it again this year since we most likely wont be able to go there as easy when we're living in Wisconsin. The drive took up the rest of the day, but we had a nice time just being together. Axel did so well in the car! He really amazes me every day! He seems to be over his fussiness and is like a normal baby now! He only cries when he needs something or is tired. It makes my life so much easier, and his too! When we arrived in San Francisco we checked into our hotel, and to stretch our legs from the ride decided to walk around downtown. Axel got a lot of attention, and I loved every bit of it! There are so many babies here in Rexburg it's never really a big deal to anyone, but the people of San Francisco seemed very excited to see one and we were happy to show him off!

The next day was Thanksgiving! We tried to keep the same tradition as our holiday last year. Our first stop was Safeway, where we bought gourmet deli salads, sandwiches, drinks and other snacks for our Thanksgiving Picnic Feast :) Then we drove to Big Basin in the Redwood Forest where we walked around and enjoyed the beautiful scenery! All the tall trees, with their beautiful colors were absolutely breathtaking! I wish we lived closer and could enjoy it more often! I guess that makes visiting so much more special though.






After the redwoods we drove to Santa Cruz where we had our picnic. We sat in the same lovely spot as last year, and we weren't the only ones trying to make this a tradition. We recognized a few other people from last year who had their same spots as well. It was kinda cool. As we sat and ate, I had an overwhelming feeling of love and gratitude for my sweet little family and the happiness that they bring to my life. I'm actually tearing up as I write this. Sometimes I just cannot believe how fortunate I am to have such wonderful people in my life. After all the different experiences I've had, and the good and bad choices I've made, I feel so grateful to be where I am today. I never imagined I could be so happy.



When we finished eating we walked along the beach and climbed over the rocks and such. Jordan had to hold Axel because last time I got really freaked out that I was going to fall in. Jordan does a great impression of that haha.. Axel seemed really calm down by the water. He probably liked the splashing sound of the waves (splashing is one of his favorite things to do! As soon as he gets in the bath he kicks and and slaps the water and gets a huge smile on his face when he makes a loud SPLASH!).





On our way home we stopped at Starbucks to get our new obsession, "Caramel Apple Spice". We discovered it in Boise and have become addicted.. (Jordan is more addicted than I am, but I wont say no when he wants to stop for one). We ended up getting one every day we were in San Francisco! It is delicious. If you haven't tried it, you must.

The next day was BLACK FRIDAY! This was my first time actually shopping on black friday! I know, where have I been right? We had fun, and the crowds weren't too bad, but I probably wouldn't do it again very early in the morning because I don't deal well with big crowds like that. I get very impatient and moody haha. Those of you who know me well can imagine my temperament. I have a hard time holding my comments under my breath when people are rude, and we all know I don't hide my emotions well at all. However, it was fun! GAP was having an amazing sale where everything in the store was 50% off before 10am, so I bought a pair of jeans I've been lusting after and waited in line 30 minutes to get them at an amazing price. I was worn out quick, but thankfully Axel slept pretty much the entire time! Later that day we went and took pictures by the Golden Gate Bridge. It is so beautiful! Axel wasn't too happy most of the time though. He rewarded me with a blow-out poo diaper that I got on my shirt! Oh well, I figured I could just lie and say it was mustard if anyone asked :)




That night we went to Fishermans Wharf. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the place because of how touristy it is but we had a nice time. We were pretty hungry by then, but trying to hold off for dinner, so Jordan got us some fried calamari. I liked the normal parts of it, but this portion had these nasty little octopus-like things and I wouldn't touch it. If someone can explain to me how Jordan and gulp those things down, but wont go near curry or thai food, I would appreciate it because I don't get it at all! As we walked around, Jordan entertained me by speaking in his horrible English accent to all the other people there. Oh, and I don't have a snaggletooth like the picture shows.




On our way back to the hotel for a rest we got a call from Jordans brother Shawn. He told us that he and his wife Traci are having a baby BOY! It was such exciting news and we are so happy and excited for them! Axel is thrilled to have a future cousin to do fun and naughty boy stuff with.

The next morning we woke up a little later than planned and headed to the farmers market. Unfortunately it was raining and pretty cold, and Axel wasn't too excited about it so we couldn't enjoy it as much as we would have liked. The environment was pretty though, even in the rain.




After the farmers market it was time to head back to Idaho. We stopped at starbucks of course to get our Caramel Apple Spice and left the city. We didn't get too far though before we heard that the hwy by Tahoe was closed because of snow.. if we would have waited it out we wouldn't have gotten home until 5am the next day. NO THANKS! So, we turned around and went back to San Francisco for one more night! We ended up getting a pretty sweet hotel room that over looked union square! It was really fun and Axel was King of the Castle in his big fancy bed.. (too bad he barely slept that night..)




Axel was such a good boy on the way home! He slept most of the day, and even that night! He is growing up so fast! He had a check-up today and he is in the 95th percentile! Last time he was in the 50th! He weights 14lbs and is 23 inches long. He has discovered his hands now and is always playing with his fingers and sucking on his fist. I'm not entirely sure, but I think he might be getting 2 bottom teeth! Yes, I know it's early, but it looks like there's little buds of something in there. Maybe not though. We'll see I suppose. He is a big talker and very dramatic! (Like his parents haha). He is so strong willed for a little baby! I'm not trying to give him more credit than is due.. I know he's only 3 months old, and I don't want to sound like I think he's a baby genius or something, but he just has such a strong personality! He smiles pretty much anytime you look at him, which completely melts my heart all day! I don't know what I would do without him.

I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to take such a lovely vacation with my dear family. We have been so blessed! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

2 Months Old!

Big Announcement!!

A few posts ago, I mentioned that we have some exciting things happening in the future. Now that one of them is official, I am excited to announce it! We are moving back to Wisconsin in December! The original plan was to hopefully move there in 2 years when Jordan finishes his undergrad here at BYU-I, and live in Madison so he could do med school at UW-Madison, but a few weeks ago while watching General Conference, Jordan felt that he should apply to transfer NOW. So he applied to UW Milwaukee, UW Madison, and UW Lacrosse. He was accepted by UW Lacrosse, and UW Milwaukee, but Madison has a strict policy that all students must have taken 2 years of foreign language in high school and Jordan took one, so we are going to MILWAUKEE! We just got the official letter of acceptance this morning and have been so excited to share the news! I've really never spent much time in Milwaukee so this will be a fun new adventure for us! The neighborhoods surrounding the campus look really nice and green and they are close to the lake! It may not be so wonderful in the winter, but the other three seasons will be great! Not to mention, we will be so close to our families! This is a huge plus, especially because Axel is so young. I think his grandparents are going crazy right now with excitement!

So, we will be leaving Rexburg at the end of the semester for good. It is really bittersweet though. We have the most wonderful ward ever and have made so many close friends here. It will be sad to say goodbye to such wonderful people, but fun to stay in touch. We are so lucky to have such good friends here.

We don't have an apartment yet or anything really but I have been looking around on craigslist and emailing some people. We would like to get that set up soon. Ideally, I would like to be moved in somewhere as close to the 1st of January as possible. In the meantime we can stay with our parents, but it is so nice having your own place and it will be fun decorating and getting to know a new neighborhood! I will find out tomorrow if I can transfer my job with Image to Wisconsin. This would be HUGE for our family as well! The territory is so much bigger and has so much potential, it would be a gold mine and a GREAT job to have while Jordan is in school. If I can transfer it to Wisconsin it would be something I can keep long term as well, so we are really hoping it all works out. I will speak to the President of the company tomorrow. I hope she is enthused about it as we are! Fingers crossed!

Tomorrow Axel will be 2 MONTHS OLD! I can hardly believe it! He is just the cutest little boy I have ever seen and we fall more and more in love with him each day. His fussiness is still calming down quite a bit and he has been such a happy little guy lately. He is getting into some routines which is nice, and getting more comfortable with other people around. He still wants his Mama though after a little bit, and that is such a sweet feeling. He is becoming such a little cuddle bug too! I keep trying to catch his big smiles and squeals on camera, but I always seem to miss the really good ones! I was able to get a few though and his little smile is so darling! I have to apologize though for the spit-up, and the annoying sounds coming out of my mouth. It's sad how silly you can sound when you become a parent. Please don't judge!

Baby Baby Baby Ohhhh...

I don't really have much to write about, but I felt like taking advantage of the chance to do so while Axel sleeps. Blogger is telling me that image uploads are disabled for another two hours due to maintenance, so no pictures this time, but facebook is full of them :)

Axel is 7 weeks old as of yesterday, and he continues to amaze me and turn me to mush every day! Every time I look at him I fall more and more in love with him! He has brought so much joy and love into our little family! He is gaining a lot of weight lately, which is a good thing because he has been on the lower end of the charts. I know that doesn't REALLY matter too much, but I'd like the numbers to be a little higher for pride's sake! He is about 10 1/2 lbs now, and I'm guessing about 22.5 inches. I swear he gets bigger every day! He has such a cute little baby body, and about 4 chins! He's getting so heavy, but at the same time he is still so tiny! Oh I just love him! He's starting to outgrow his newborn size clothes and fit well in his 0-3 month clothes. It's fun getting him into some of these cute outfits, but sad for me at the same time because he's growing too fast for me! It's just a reminder that he wont be my tiny baby forever, so I have to soak up all the cuddles I can now!

It is so fun to watch him play and look around at things. He is very attracted to shapes and colors. At first it was anything black and white. He will just stare and stare and stare at the picture frames on our walls, and also the light fixtures on the ceiling! He even gets distracted from eating when he see's them. Now he is paying more attention to bright colors, especially reds! He loves to stare at Jordan's big red bike, the red awning (sp?) at the park, and our Trader Joes shopping bag that usually sits by the door. He has a little play mat with a little musical box that lights up different colors as the music plays and for now it is his favorite activity! When he is in a good mood, he will lay there and flap his arms and kick his legs while he watches it and make the cutest little noises at it! He'll even flash his big gummy grin while he watches it. It is so cool to see him getting excited about things! His little personality is already starting to develop and it is so fun observing all of this! He is also smiling a LOT now for Mommy and Daddy, which turns both Jordan and I to mush every time we see it. When I take a shower Axel will sit in his boppy chair on the bathroom floor and look around, and as soon as I get out and talk to him he gets the biggest smiles on his face! (I like to think it's because he hadn't seen my face for a few minutes, not because Mommy is nakey..). He also gets really excited when Jordan comes home from school. As soon as he hears Daddy's voice he'll turn his head all around looking for Jordan's face, and when Jordan comes up to see him Axel will smile really big! Knowing that Axel recognizes Mommy and Daddy, and is happy to see us is such an amazingly good feeling! He isn't laughing quite yet, but he does these cute little squeals when he gets really happy or excited, so I think the laughing is soon to come! Our new thing is, I will stick out my tongue at him and make a noise like "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma".. he just stares and stares.. and then tries to stick his tongue out too! It is so so so cute! I really need to get it recorded. He's also "communicating" if you will, with Jordan and I now, and I don't mean just crying. When he's in a good mood, he'll just look at us and make little noises that sound kind of like sighs when we talk to him. His developments are happening so fast! Babies really are so incredible to observe!

It has been really fun learning how to parent together with Jordan. It's such a blessing that we can agree on the big things and we have the same ways of doing (most) things. I'm not trying to brag here, but I just can't say enough what a big help Jordan is. He works so hard all day at school, and has to come home to a fussy baby (although the fussiness seems to have hit its peak and is getting a lot better!), and will be so kind and loving with both of us. He is such a good Daddy!

Lately the weather in Rexburg has been gorgeous! Outside our living room window all I can see right now are gorgeous fall leaves on the trees and on the ground! I wish it could stay like this forever! This weekend we are going to try to go find some pumpkins! I am so excited for this! I'd like to be ambitious and say that we'll also make caramel apples to give to our friends, but I have to be realistic now that Axel is around. I made pumpkin bread the other day and the whole process (should've taken me about an hour..with baking time) took me about 5 hours haha! It definitely makes the end result worth it though!

Axel will be 2 months on the 31st (halloween!) and has to get his 2 month shots on the following Monday! I am not looking forward to this at all! Watching my poor little guy get poked (I think they give him 6 shots!) and then be sore for a day or two after will be really hard for me! I don't know how Moms do it. But, at least we'll get it all out of the way. Please, don't anyone try to tell me about the autism/vaccine thing.. I don't buy it. Oh, but that reminds me of a funny video I want to share. The robotic voices are really annoying, but it is funny nonetheless.. enjoy!

I Have a Six-Week-Old!

Look how big he is getting! I can't believe Axel is 6 weeks old! Time has gone by so fast, but at the same time it feels like his birth was ages ago! Right now I'm just sitting in bed with little A fast asleep on my chest, all cuddled up. I really should be getting him used to his crib, and bringing him in whenever he's asleep, but I love having him up close to me! Yes, it might be harder to get him into his crib later, but I wont get this cuddle time forever, so if that means putting off the crib routine for awhile.. so be it!

I just had my six week check up yesterday and everything went great (except I didn't know you get sodomized by the doctor! Geez, you really have to lose all shame when you have babies. Anyways, I am now officially in the clear to resume normal activities. I've pretty much already been back into the swing of things, but I haven't exercised yet other than walking and I am really anxious to get going with that. It's just a matter of finding the time! Jordan is in school most of the day and at the library most nights until pretty late, and Axel's feeding schedule is still pretty erratic, so it's hard to break away for too long. Hopefully though, I can get an hour in a few nights a week.

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So it's the next day. Axel woke up and that ended my quiet writing time. It's almost 11am on Wednesday and Axel is once again asleep on my lap. Jordan is at school right now, but today is his "short" day so I will probably get to see him a little more. Yay!



The weather is starting to get much cooler now and I love it! I absolutely love love love fall! If it could be fall year round I would be so happy! Although nothing beats a fall in Wisconsin (or Berlin!). I am really excited to go pick out pumpkins with Jordan and Axel! It better not come down to grabbing one from outside the grocery store! I want the whole pumpkin patch, jackets, caramel apple, apple cider experience! I'm still trying to figure out what to dress us all up as for halloween. Any ideas are welcome!

Here You Go Shalyse :)

My sweet sister-in-law Shalyse, has requested I post lots and lots of pictures! I have a bunch on facebook, but I have no problem posting more on here! I love showing off my guy! I hope this will do for now! It is quite a few! I tried not to make them redundant to the ones on facebook. Enjoy!