Alex turns 2!

October 24th 2006 was the day that our family changed forever and in a couple of days our little boy is going to be 2 years old. We had the family over on the 17th for a little celebration. This year Alex has a pretty good idea what a birthday celebration is, well at least to the point that he gets to open presents, have birthday cake, sing the birthday song, and of course he gets to blow out the candles. This year it was much easier to figure out what Alex would enjoy for his birthday. He has shown many interests in trucks, trains, buses , digging in the dirt, and throwing things around the house.

The day of Alex's birthday party, Alex spent the afternoon with Nana so Emily could bake the cake, wrap presents, get the balloons(which he loves), and we could set up the rest of the decorations. Alex came home after his afternoon nap and the rest of the family showed up a little later. We borrowed a small bounce house from a friend and the girls all enjoyed it, but Alex isn't very comfortable in it with others bouncing around. All the kids had a lot of fun running around outside. After dinner of course it was presents and birthday cake. Alex really tore into the presents and was very excited with each one. He especially loved the backhoe loader that makes noises and has a lever that moves the loader up and down. He loves it so much he wore himself out the next two days playing with it. Emily made a wonderful cake where she frosted a yellow backhoe, and she placed two candles on it. Alex was very excited this year to have the birthday song sung for him, he had the biggest smile and pointed to himself when everyone said his name, and of course he blew out his candles.

You can see all of the photos by clicking here.

Family Camping

Labor Day weekend we took the family up for our first camping trip. We meet Jeremy's extending family up north for one night. It was a little difficult to figure out the sleeping arrangements and what would be the easiest way for Emily to be able to feed Benjamin in the middle of the night. The plan was have them sleep in the back of the SUV, while Alex and I slept in the tent.

We arrived just before lunch and Alex hit the ground running. He explored everything! The four-wheelers were especially fun to climb on. I took him on a little ride and he absolutely loved it. Benjamin did a great and everyone enjoyed taking turns holding him. We had a great meal around the campfire and enjoyed an evening of games by lantern. The boys did really good getting to sleep that night, but the next morning was an adventure.

It rained most of the night and was off and on that morning. It was a little cold in the morning, but that didn't phase Alex one bit. We wrapped him up in some warm cloths and he was off playing in the puddles and climbing on the muddy four-wheelers. After breakfast the rain stopped briefly, so we tried to pack up as much as we could, but the rain started back up. This time I am not sure it was going to end very soon. So we finished packing up and headed home. It was a nice trip and we enjoyed spending time with family. We are still new when it come to camping with little ones, but we do realize we need to have more child-friendly camping stuff. There is always next time. :)

Photos- Aug/Sept

Wonderful family evenings.
Little Ben asleep soundly.
What are you looking at?

Ohhh my!!! That camera thing again.
The lawnmowing team!
Alex the Pirate. Aaarrrhhhh.
Little Ben asleep again...but at this age what else do you expect him to do?
Uncle Lloyd with his hands full.

Cabin Trip

The last weekend of August, Emily and the boys spent the weekend up in the White Mountains with the extended family. It was a little chilly, but they had an enjoyable time.

Emily, Alex, & Benjamin enjoying the a comfortable morning in the recliner.

Family Time

We spent the first week of Benjamin's life all together as a family, but on the second week Jeremy had to go back to work. Grandma jumped at the chance to come down to Pheonix for a full week to help out around the house with whatever was needed and spoil her Grandsons. Her help was much appreciated and the whole family enjoyed spending so much time with her. Alex was still trying to figure out what was happening to his world. Why was everything changing so much, it was perfect the way it was. He slowly warmed up to Grandma and soon had Grandma taking him everywhere. They went to the grocery store, Tot-town, McDonalds, and the mall. Grandma says he took a couple of years off of her life with some of the stunts he pulled. I don't Grandma wasn't quite prepared for Alex's fearless boyhood antics.
Ben did great, pretty much kept a consistent 2 hour feeding schedule and by his first visit to the pediatretion, he was back to his original birth weight. He is already holding up his head, as you can see by the photos, but since he cannot see very far yet I'm not sure what he is looking at. Soon he will get that wonderful vision that Alex has and Daddy lacks and he will be intently checking everything out.

Later in the week Grandpa flew down to meet his newest Grandson. It was a short visit but well worth it.