Not Cookie Cutter Kids

I get a lot of questions about what Gavin looked like when he was a baby and if the boys look at all alike. Gavin was chubby like Xander, though I think Xander is chubbier (partly because he has a rounder face.) So when I came across pictures of Gavin (5 months old) in the same outfit as Xander (4 months old) I thought I'd post them together for comparison. I wouldn't say that my kids are cookie cutter. They both pretty much have their own look. Take a gander and feel free to share what you think.

My Birthday

Saturday was my birthday, and it turned out to be grand! Ben ran the boys down to Rexburg to stay with Grandma Ann for the day while I stayed home and took my time getting ready for the day. Quite the treat. When Ben got back we headed over to Chili's (Thanks to a gift card from my parents.) for an early lunch. We both tried out one of their Big Mouth Burgers... mmmm so good. And then we shared their molten lava cake... heavenly. We were both so stuffed by the time we finished.

After lunch, we drove down to Rexburg. We stopped at Ben's parents' house to feed Xander and to change clothes. We then headed up to the Rexburg Temple for a session. It's so beautiful and peaceful there. It was so nice to go. We then spent the evening with Ben's family. We had pizza for dinner and a chocolate cupcake cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting... yummy! Then I got to open presents! I got jewelry (My hubby has such good taste :) ) and the movie Another Cinderella Story (Aren't you jealous Sarah?) from Ben and the boys. And I got a warm, long, fuzzy robe from Ben's family. It even matches some pajamas I already own... how fun is that?! To top off my fabulous day, my family sang/shouted 'Happy Birthday' over the phone to me. It was great. What more could a girl ask for?!

My Littlest Man

Xander turned 4 months old on Sunday! I decided to take a few pictures of him in his cute Sunday outfit. Can you believe it's a 6 to 9 month outfit? What a chunk of a kid... but boy is he a cutie. On Tuesday I took him for his 4 month well baby check-up and shots... not so fun. He is now 15 lbs 14 oz, so almost 16 lbs... amazing, and he is a little over 26 inches long! We all love to see him learning and growing. He gives awesome huge smiles and has started cracking up and babbling. I've caught some of the babbling on video (ignore me talking in the background to him), but he always stops laughing by the time I get out the camera. We'll keep working on that though.

The only downside to all this growing up is teething... dun dun dun. Like his older brother, Xander has decided to be an early teether. Needless to say, I have recently suffered from lack of sleep and a grumpy kiddo. Luckily, I have a good husband who helps out as much as he can. Hopefully his teeth will hurry up and break through the skin and get this miserable process over for all parties involved.

The Things We Moms Do...

Gavin has never been one for taking naps. Even from the very beginning, he was never a very good napper or sleeper. For a while now, Gavin only takes one nap a day... if I'm lucky. Over the last several months (since learning to climb out of his crib), he'll just play in his room and never take a nap. On occasion he may be tired enough to fall asleep in the middle of playing, but not regularly. So to help him get to sleep, if I can get Xander to cooperate, I go and lay down with Gavin until he falls asleep for nap time. The thing is Gavin has a toddler bed... I'm 5'10"... It's a pretty funny sight, so today while Ben was home I had him take a picture.

The Holidays

So I started this a while ago... maybe it'll actually get posted this time...

Though the holidays are always a busy time of the year, this past year seemed especially busy. I think it was mostly the fact that I now have two kids... man, they're a lot of work. We were able to get most of the Christmas stuff out and up the weekend after Thanksgiving, but there were a few things that never got put up. A few I meant to get to, but never quite did. The rest, well let's be honest, wasn't Gavin proof. Our tree this year was only decorated on the top half with plastic ornaments... it may end up being that way for the next few years.

We were very fortunate and had all kinds of Christmas activities. Ben and I enjoyed a night out without the boys for his work Christmas party. We went to a ranch and had a sleigh ride, dinner, and show. It was a great evening and even nicer knowing the boys were with Grandma Ann! We also had the Blackham and Barnes Christmas parties. We then had our own little family Christmas at home the Sunday night before Christmas.

We then flew to Kentucky to be with my family on Tuesday the 23rd. After a half day delay... thank goodness for computers to check flight statuses and living close to the airport... we made it. We spent Christmas Eve with the Shoaf's at Grandma's house early in the day and with the Jenkin's at Grandma Jenkin's for the evening. We had a good time seeing everyone. We drove back to Kentucky that night and had Christmas morning at my parents. Then on Saturday Grandpa Jenkins and Grandma Jane came to Kentucky to visit and brought a few presents. Gavin got a Disney Cars play rug... He loves anything with wheels! The Tuesday after Christmas Melissa and her family flew in and Tyler came home from his church mission to England. So Wednesday morning we had another little Christmas since the rest of my family joined us. We also blessed Alexander. It was so nice to have my dad and brother be a part of that.
We thought we were flying home on Wednesday the 30th, but when we got to the airport the flight status had changed, and we weren't able to fly home until the following day. It was great to have an extra day with my whole family, but we were also ready to be home... the boys needed to get back to a regular routine. We celebrated the New Year by waiting for our luggage at the baggage claim and driving home to crash into bed!

On New Year's Day we visited Ben's family were we did the whole Christmas thing AGAIN! How spoiled are we?! Then we spent the afternoon at Grandpa and Grandma Blackham's with the all of the Blackham family. It was a busy long couple of weeks, but we loved spending time with some much family, especially the ones we don't get to see near enough. And Gavin loved opening presents... whether they were his or not. He was always so disappointed when there was nothing good for him in the box. He'd throw the clothes or whatever out of the box and look at you like okay where's the present?! Little kids, especially your own, just help make the holidays!

Balancing Act

So my sister, Melissa, always chews me out for not keeping my blog updated. I know I'm bad it... it's true. She says that my priorities should be 1: My Family 2: My Blog. Well, that's great, but what if number one always takes all of your time?! How do you find a balance in taking care of your family and still make time for yourself and the things you like to do? Now that I have two little boys I find that especially hard to do. Most of the time, I'm lucky if I get a half an hour during the day were both are napping at the same time, and then at night when they are in bed, I either want to spend time with my husband (it's nice to talk to another grown-up) or get some sleep.

Then my other issue is when I do try to do something for myself some how my boys have a mommy's-taking-some-time-for-herself-so-we-better-help-her-out radar. For instance, Friday night I ran to Wal-Mart to get a few things and ended up buying a Pilates kit for myself. I really want to get back to my pre-Gavin size... luckily, I'm pretty close to being pre-Xander size. So anyway, today Xander is asleep and I decide that I'll try out the new DVD. I figure I can manage with only Gavin. Do you know how hard it is to roll up verbrate by verbrate when a 30 pound 2 year old is sitting on you chest?! Then of course 15 minutes in, Xander wakes up, even though he should have stayed asleep! I guess I at least got something in, but really all that chaos for maybe 15 minutes of a work out... I've always heard by taking time for yourself, you can be a better mom and wife, and I do believe that, but really when am I supposed to do that?

Speaking of that radar... there's Xander waking up again.