Easter Sunday

I absolutely love Easter . . . I think it might be my favorite holiday. Not because theirs a lot of hoopla about it or because you get candy but because it celebrates the greatest miracle ever - the atonement and resurrection of Christ and because it means it is finally Spring. Luckily, this year was a beautiful day. I wish I had been more prepared for it but we were busy trying to get our house ready for an appraisal and we had Eric's parents staying with us for awhile. I didn't get to make eggs with Alex which I would like to become a tradition but I try not to feel too bad about since I know he'd never remember anyway. However, we did have a lovely Easter brunch and egg hunt with Eric's family and later we went to Gardner Village to get some family pictures. I'm trying very hard not to spoil Alex too much so instead of getting the huge basket full of all kinds of toys I wanted to get him I just got him a simple little Walmart one. Eric keeps telling me he won't remember it anyway (and he didn't seem to care one bit either). It was so cute seeing Daddy trying to go around with him and pick up eggs. He would try to get Alex to pick them up but it didn't really work. Oh well. One day he won't even care about hunting eggs so we should enjoy his littleness as much as possible.

On another note . . . I am so grateful to have a Heavenly Father who loves us enough to sacrifice his son for us. What a wonderful gift that we don't deserve. I can't even imagine the pain and suffering that Christ had to endure for our sake for I know that some pain and suffering I have had in my life has been almost too much to bear and he took on EVERYONE'S pain and suffering. I absolutely LOVED the talk by Jeffery R. Holland about Christ's ultimate sacrifice in the last general conference. I think it was the best talk I have ever heard on the subject. I remember once in Young Women's a teacher once approached the same idea with us. I thought it was very profound at the time and had not heard any reference to it since. I believe that Elder Holland was inspired to reveal it to us. I could not imagine being left alone without any Godly support in this life. It would be too horrible for words. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus will always be at my side guiding me, directing me, and most importantly supporting me through whatever I may have to face. I am truly blessed.

As Time Goes By . . .

(Editor's note: I wrote this two weeks ago and just haven't had time to post it yet!)
Oh my goodness! Alex is growing up so fast I can barely keep up! It seems like just yesterday we were patiently waiting for him to arrive and now he's nine months! I thought he was huge for his age because he's already wearing some 18-24 month clothes but I took him into the doctor and he's only 63% in weight and 83% in height. I mean, I guess that's pretty big but compared to other kids in my family, he's not THAT tall. Anway, I must admit that I am enjoying this stage of his life the most so far - he is so full of surprises and his little personality is starting to come out.

First of all, he's just like his Daddy (thankfully!). He is so good-natured, patient, and even-tempered. He loves everyone he meets and always has a huge smile for them. It's a little sad that he doesn't seem to perfer Mommy over anyone else, but I'm glad he's so well-adjusted. What makes it a little easier is that he has started saying "Ma Ma." Ok, it's more like mmmmmmaaaaa mmmmmmmaaaaaaa or conversly, mmmmmooooommmm, but it still sends tingles down my spine. He has also started saying da da da da da da da da. I'm not really sure which one he said first which is great because he's already trying to please both parents equally. However, he says da da da da da whenever he is happy and seems to say mmmmaaaaaa mmmmaaaaa whenever he is upset (and wants me). I also swear that he has started saying "Hi" but it comes out more like "Ha". Which makes total sense since I constantly say, "Hi baby! Hi!" It blows my mind with how smart he is.

One of his favorite things to do is put things in other things or take things out of things. I can just see his little mind working and processing it all as he does it. He's finally grasped the concept of bubbles and loves it when Mommy or Daddy swings him around and throws him on the bed. He isn't crawling yet but that's probably my fault - he's so content to just sit there and play with his toys, I don't put him on his stomach very much. When I do though, he rolls all over the place. I'm almost thinking he'll skip crawling and go straight to walking because he loves to stand so much. He'll frequently lock his legs so I can't sit him down.
In other news, he FINALLY cut a tooth. I haven't posted about it yet because I'm waiting for it to come all the way in so I can take a picture. However, I think it's been about three weeks and it's still just a tiny little stub. Also, I don't ever remember seeing a baby with ONE tooth, but there doesn't seem to be any others coming in. Perhaps the one tooth is waiting for the other before it "grows" up. I'm so excited for him to get teeth because ever since he got sick, he hasn't been doing well with the baby food. He loves bread and crackers and I know he's just dying to eat "grown-up" food. We're almost there Buddy!
He also has started to give us the cutest kisses ever. Of course, only when he is so inclined but it's well worth waiting for. In the past I would kiss him and he would open his mouth to kiss back but lately he's been initiating the kiss first! The other day, he also finally noticed my eye lashes and thought they were the funniest things ever. I was rocking him to sleep for a nap (yes, I still always rock him to sleep for naps and at night. I was going to stop to make sure I didn't spoil him but then I realized I loved it as much as he did and I probably won't get to enjoy it with my other kids because I'll have other kids!) Anyway, he suddenly stopped drinking his bottle, took his little hand and touched my eye and laughed! He was fascinated that I could blink my eyes for the next five or ten minutes! He's recognized them again a few times. So cute!
Anyway, I just love our little guys so much! He brings SUCH happiness in our lives! It doesn't even bother me that much to get up early with him the morning which is huge because I HATE to get up early. But when I see his cute little smiling face, I'm ready to play. I can't wait to have another one! I haven't posted pictures or video for awhile so bear with me . . . .

Daddy's SMiLE!

His adorable "blow fish" face. Don't you just want to give him a big kiss?

so funny!!!

He just did this all day one day! Hilarious!!!

Alex never really cries or screams when he's upset. This is what he does instead.

I try very hard not to laugh :)