Favorites

I've managed to grab some cute pictures of Dax lately and have added some new favorites to my collection of Dax pictures.


I am cute, that is all



Captain Drooly Face to the rescue!!

Snow Day!

With all of the snow we were dumped with on Sunday night, Derek and I wanted to make sure and get some snow pictures with Dax last night!!





He was laughing the whole time, except when the camera was on - silly boy!!

1/3 and belated Friday Fun!

It's official: Dax is 1/3 of a year old and 2 days!! To celebrate, I had a chocolate shake, and Dax we went to the pediatrician for a 4 month checkup. Dax is now 16lbs 15 ounces and 25" long, which means he has doubled his birth weight and grown almost 4 inches since he was born. My baby is growing up way too fast.

We also tried out some cool new sunglasses, and Dax got to sit in his brand new booster seat from grammie Patty! He sat with us at dinner tonight and doubled fisted 2 of his favorite toys while we ate some lasagna.



such a stud



hmm i'm not so sure about this just yet



mommy when do i get some lasagna?

Twins

For some time now, whenever I put Dax in his blue patagonia hat, he looks eerily like Blue Toad in the New Super Mario Bros game - especially when Toad gets the penguin suit. Could it be that Dax has a cartoon twin?

Toad:



Dax-a-roo:

Operation Break the Swaddle Addiction T-1

Dax has an addiction. He has to be swaddled in order to fall asleep 99% of the time. I know what you're thinking, that's not such a bad thing. You're right, it wouldn't be so bad if he still fit well into his swaddle and wasn't becoming more mobile. Most of the time when Derek or I pick him up after a nap or in the morning, both of his arms are free and flung high up next to his head, as if he's saying "don't shoot". See Exhibit A:



Derek and I have decided it is time to break the swaddle habit and help him learn to fall asleep without it. Since Derek has a 3-day weekend (thank you president's day!!) we have decided this is the weekend to start Operation Break the Swaddle Addiction.

Since I haven't posted any pictures lately, here's a little montage of Dax's favorite things, reading, and eating his monkey teether ring:

Poops I Did It Again

No, I did not mistype that, it really should say "Poops" and not "Oops". If I could put a title on my day yesterday, it would have been that. What would have been even more appropriate is if I had put Dax in the onesie that my mom bought him at a yard sale this past summer that says that on it. Had I only known....

Let's backtrack for a minute. At one of my baby showers someone made me a diaper cake using size 2 diapers. They told me that it would be nice to use those instead of cloth diapers when we were out and about. Well they've just been sitting in Dax's room and he's almost out of what would be considered size 2, so Derek and I decided we should just use them for a few days so we don't waste them. We still wanted to use our cloth diapers at night because of how well they hold the pee and how well the keep the moisture off of Dax's skin.

Fast-forward to yesterday afternoon. Dax woke up to eat and was ready to go back to sleep again when I heard the explosive rumblings below. I waited a few minutes to make sure all of the aftershocks were over and started to unswaddle him. I knew it was going to be bad when I saw the poop drippings in the swaddle me - and when I turned him around, his entire onesie was wet with poop. I took him into the nursery to change him, and by that point poop was EVERYWHERE. It was on his arms, legs, all over the changing table, it was disgusting. Even worse, I know that had we used a cloth diaper we would not have had the massive blowout that we did have. In addition, my poor child is addicted to being swaddled and getting him to sleep without the swaddleme blanket is a very difficult task. It was a rough day, but the cloth diapers are back, the disposables are probably going to get thrown away because I get mad just looking at them, and it is going to be an all out PJ day for Dax and I. Did I mention we're snowed in?

Future Heisman?

don't touch my football!



possessed by the football (i couldn't get the red-eyes out with my editor lol)



future heisman?

Just Breathe

"...patience is a deep breath. It clears the air. It stops foolishness from whipping its scorpion tail all over the room. It is a choice to control your emotions rather than allowing your emotions to control you, and shows discretion instead of returning evil for evil."

Today's Love Dare, from yesterday's reading, was to demonstrate patience and say nothing negative to Derek. I have to be honest here, patience is one of the LAST things I do well. I am a results oriented person, I want to see things happen when I want them to happen - waiting is not something I enjoy doing. That carries over into my attitude towards Derek more times than not, and it can be hurtful. Often, I find myself getting frustrated over little things that don't matter, but at that moment in time, they seem like they are the most important thing in the entire world. Sometimes, if it were up to me, I would have a magic wand that I could wave in the air and everything would happen that I directed. Thankfully, that is not the case, but sadly I'm sure my husband has felt the wrath of Arwen more times than not by my impatience and desire to see instant results.

Just the other day, I was on the phone with my sister and was going to meet up with her. I had to time the meeting just right, and she called to let me know what mile marker she was at. I instantly turned to Derek and said, where is that, when do I need to leave? As I sat there for a total of 5 seconds waiting for a response, I got really angry because I didn't have an answer yet. I blew up at him, and he ended up getting frustrated with me (and rightly so!), because I wasn't willing to patiently wait for him to think about where she was at and figure out when I would need to leave the house. This is just ONE example of thousands that I could provide you with that have taken place over the past week!

I need to learn to love my husband by being patient and not being negative towards him. I have been blessed with an amazing husband, but sometimes I admit the way I treat him does not reflect how wonderful he is. So today, I have been working on being patient, and just breathing. If I find myself getting worked up or wanting an instant answer or immediate result, I have resolved to take a deep breath and trust my husband. Derek listens to me, and one thing that I have learned is that if I ask him to help me with something, he ALWAYS follows through. My problem, is that he doesn't always follow through when I think he should. The point isn't when something gets done (at least 95% of the time), but that it gets done. Reading this segment of The Love Dare, made me think of this song. Anytime that I've gotten impatient today, I just hit the "auto-play" button in my head, take a minute to chill out and relax. Enjoy the song!

The Love Dare Challenge

The Love Dare journey is a process, and the first thing you must resolve to possess is patience. Think of it as a marathon, not a sprint. But it's a race worth running.

For our first wedding anniversary, we received the book The Love Dare from my parents. I have a confession, I glanced at the book, and then put it on our bookshelf only to collect dust for several months. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate the gift, or wasn't interested, it was more that I didn't think Derek and I needed a book on how to love each other. I didn't want to take the time to read this book with my husband and see what it had to say.

You see, we had read another book not too long ago, Sacred Marriage, and had read great reviews on the book. After reading the book we were pretty disappointed with what we had read and didn't feel as if it really helped us see something new or change our relationship at all. In fact, we felt slightly ripped off and wanted our money back.

Where am I going with this? Since we've had a baby, Derek and I have had a difficult time finding time for us, just him and I. Between working, changing diapers, feeding Dax, putting Dax to sleep, playing with him, and getting in sleep to do it all over the next day, we seem to have left ourselves in the dust, and have forgotten that we need to make our marriage a priority as well. Not getting enough sleep, having new responsibilities, and trying to adjust to one of the biggest changes that we have ever gone through can sometimes leave us a little stressed, tense, and crabby - especially with each other. Without wanting to spend a lot of money, but recognizing that we need to do something to spend more time together, a light switch went off in my head - we have a book, and we can read it together!

This is a 40-day challenge, we will read each day together, read the Bible verse(s) that they share, and then after the 2 page reading, there's a dare or challenge that each person has to try and do for the other. Today's dare, "Love is Patient". I'm excited for this new journey, to see where this takes our marriage, and more importantly I'm excited about the time Derek and I will be spending together to strengthen our marriage and fall even more in love with each other.