The Best Christmas Gift of All

Little Alex wasn't the only one who had a great Christmas this past year.  Alex and I received the best Christmas gift of all...we found out on Christmas Eve that we're expecting our second child.  It was a bit of a surprise, but all in all a wonderful one!  I'm due on September 2, 2011, but will give birth in mid to late August via C-section.  I won't have an actual date until it gets closer to the date.  And yes, we're definitely finding out whether it's a boy or a girl.  There's no way I can wait for 9 months to find out what it is.  All in all, I've had an easy pregnancy.  This one has actually been so easy, I kept taking pregnancy tests early on because I kept thinking maybe it was a false alarm.  Hopefully, it will continue this way.  So, if you look at the top of our blog now, you'll see I added a ticker for Baby M and how many weeks and days pregnant I am.

Christmas 2010

Even though this wasn't Alex's first Christmas (he was 9 days for Christmas 2009), it was the first one where he was walking, talking and overall much more functional!  It was great!  He did get many gifts for his birthday the week before so it was very difficult to come up with MORE gifts for people (as well as Santa) to buy him.  We did end up with a good list for people and Little Alex received so many gifts.  He especially loved the singing dog from Grandma Louise!  Here's a picture of him with Santa and here's a short movie of Christmas morning and a video of him with Grandma Louise's gift!

Catching up again!

Sorry again for not posting for a while.  Things with us have been so busy over the past 3 months that I just haven't had time.  So, now I'm making time to update you on the many events that have occurred since Alex's 1st birthday in December.

The weekend after Little Alex's "official" birthday (Dec 16th), we had a party with family and friends.  We had around 35 people and I know more of you would've come had you lived close by.  We figured that we couldn't host that many people at the house, so we had the party at Chuck E. Cheese.  Even though Little Alex probably wouldn't understand anything about the party and the place, he was going to be the youngest child at the party, so we figured everyone else would have a great time.  As it turned out, everyone had a great time!  We even had a Pug Cake!  We were so fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends who joined us on such a special day.  Here are some pictures and a short video of that day!

Alex is 1 year old!

So it's official - my son is one year old!  I can't believe it.  It's been a whirlwind year and Alex and I have gone through so many changes - there's too many to count.  It's amazing to look back and remember what this little guy looked like on December 16, 2009 and then to look at him again on December 16, 2010.   Physically, he's grown so much.  At his 12 month doctor visit, he was 29.8 inches and weighed 20 lbs. 4 oz - which is average for his age.  That's definitely an increase from what his stats were at birth - 19 1/4 inches long and 7 lbs. 2 oz.  Emotionally and socially, he's grown up so much!  He's so responsive and talkative these days.  He loves to play with other kids and play by himself.  He's always discovering new things!

Alex and I were talking the other day about our first year with little Alex.  We both think this past year went well and that it wasn't that hard at all - like most people told us it would be.  I'm so happy to see that both Alex and I have grown into our "mom" and "dad" roles like we were meant to always be there.  Plus - we know that all the support from friends and family definitely helped us through many hard times.

So, thank you friends and family for being there this past year.  I know we'll lean on you plenty again over this next year!  Thank you Alex IV - for being the best and most awesome son anyone could ever ask for!  I can't wait to see how you grow over this next year!

Here are some pictures of baby Alex as a newborn and now.

Talking Bubba....Walking Bubba!!!

As Alex approaches 1 year old, he's been changing daily.  The other day he just started talking a lot and walking with his walker.  He hasn't officially taken his first unaccompanied steps, but it should be any day now.  Here are 2 videos of him....one of him talking and one of him walking with his walker...ENJOY!

Bubba in the drawer!

Since Alex has been in discovery mode, he has been investigating every cabinet and drawer in our kitchen.  Of course, we child-proofed the important ones, but left the other ones available for him to explore.  He definitely explored.  Alex and I were talking in the kitchen and looked over and saw Bubbs sitting in one of the drawers.  It was so funny and cute, we had to take some pictures of it.  ENJOY!

Thanksgiving in Florida

We decided this year to spend Thanksgiving in Florida with my dad and Daisy.  That meant there were going to be a lot of firsts - Little Alex's first plane ride, his first time to Florida, his first time at the beach and the first time our family spent Thanksgiving in Florida.  We were all excited about what adventures we'd have.

There were no surprises....

Little Alex did great on the plane.  He slept for most of the ride and watch his DVDs and read books with me when he was awake.  Here's a picture of him on the plane watching his DVDs.

He seemed to love Florida and the pool.  Here are some pics of us at the pool and of little Alex just hanging out at Dad's.

Unfortunately, he didn't really care for the beach.  He didn't like the sand and cried when we put him down in it.  He also didn't really like the salt water either.  I'm hoping that he's just a bit young and that the next time we go to the beach, he'll love it.

Thanksgiving was fun.  Dad and Daisy made us a wonderful Turkey dinner with all the fixings and we ate like royalty.  Suzanne even managed to get some time away from Macy's (even at Thanksgiving) to join us down there for some of the fun.  All in all, what a great vacation!

Halloween 2010

Bubba's first Halloween was awesome!  We dressed him as Tigger and had the best costume!  My sister-in-law Marcy gave me a costume that my nephew wore.  There was a parade at his daycare and Suzanne, Tom and Grandma Louise came into town for the occasion.  It was a great weekend and little Alex had a great weekend.

Here are some pictures and a video from the weekend!

Laughing Alex!

As most of you know, little Alex (or Bubba as we've been calling him) has a great sense of humor and loves to laugh!

Here's are 2 video of him laughing.

The first one is from mid-September while he and I were passing a ball around at the table.

The second one is Alex laughing at Grace (part II) from mid-October.  ENJOY!

Playing Catch Up!

It's been a long while since I've written and I apologize for that.  Life seems to keep getting in the way.  Anyway, here are some updates as to what has happened in between my last entry and now.

In late August, Alex started daycare.  Daycare has been great for him.  He loves going and has learned so many things - both good and bad.  He loves his teachers and waves goodbye to me every morning when I drop him off.  Here is a few pictures of him on his first day.  Obviously, he was very excited to go.

Here is a video I took in the car on our way to Alex's first day of daycare:)  He was very happy!

Also in late August, we got a video of Bubbs playing with his sippy cup.

In early September, we had a 12th birthday party for my nephew, Ben at our house.  Suzanne decided to come in for a visit that weekend as well.  We had a great time.  Here are some pictures.

Ajax loved hanging out with his cousins, especially 5 year old Grace.  He kept laughing at her everytime she would walk by, so of course, we had to catch it on video.  Watch the video and ENJOY!

Alex is 8 months old!

I can't believe that my little guy is over 8 months old!  He has changed so much in the past few months.  He's so big now (in 9 and 12 month clothes) and has such a little personality!  Alex and I look at each other everyday and can't believe that 1) we have a son and this is OUR son and 2) how big he's gotten.  He's not that little tiny munchkin he used to be anymore.  Here are some pictures Alex took of him at our house in Geneva and in Lake Geneva, WI when they took a day trip there.

NYC - July 4th, 2010 - Billy & Toni's House & Ajax's Dance Party!

We spent 4th of July weekend at Alex's Uncle Billy and Aunt Toni's house in New Hyde Park (Long Island). They have a pool in their backyard and it was definitely a great bonus since temperatures that weekend were in the 90s. It was Ajax's first time in the 'big' pool and he did really good. We had a great time visiting with family and friends. I even reconnected with my dear friend, Amy, which was definitely long overdue! Everyone had so much fun it even ended up being a dance party! Bubba (Ajax) even took part in the dancing. I included some pictures from the day and a video of the dance party!

NYC - July 4th, 2010 - Manhattan

On Friday, July 2nd, Alex and I were able to leave Ajax with Suzanne and Tom and enjoy some alone time. So, where do you go while in Long Island without your 7 month old? Manhattan, of course! So, Alex and I drove into Manhattan. It had been a few years since we were last there. It was so great to act 25 again. We spent the day walking around. We went past my old apartment, took a stroll on Roosevelt Island and even took the Subway to complete our NYC experience. Here are some pictures from our great day!

My old apartment  - 63rd and 1st Ave.

59th Street Bridge

Roosevelt Island

This is the spot on Roosevelt Island where Alex proposed to me in May 2004.

View of 59th Street Bridge from Roosevelt Island

Financial District