Two Years + 2 Months

* The threat of timeout or sitting on his bed can get him to quickly snap out of a tantrum. * He started doing this new thing where he puts his hands up to his mouth and quietly says “I’m scared".  He is deathly afraid of the MGM lion that roars at the beginning of movies.* Likes to play with the earrings in my ear. * Will dance on the kitchen table thanks to his dad. Cute when it’s out of the blue. Not so cute when we are trying to eat dinner.* Getting better at swimming in the pool with his floaties on, which he tries to blow up himself. * Jamie’s watching him during the day again so he gets to play with Lucy, Alice, and Maggie. He understands that Jamie’s name is Jamie, but calls her mom. He did the same thing when Aunty Megan and Aunty Kylie watched him. * Since we’ve been in the new house, he’s slept in our bed with us but we are starting to put him into his own bedroom at night. * For some reason he likes to watch toy reviews on youtube. He’ll also watch his favorite cartoons in different languages. It makes for interesting looks when we are at the grocery store and he plays the video on the phone way to loud. * His lower lip biting has gotten worse. He does it all the time now. He sucks up that lower lip so tight that I can’t pry it open.* 12 month clothes have officially been put away. * Whenever he falls down or bumps his head/arm/whatever, he reassures me that he's ok with an "I'm ok Mom." I guess that shows you that he is very accident prone. * I think he's the only one who understands Great Grandpa Reed's jibber jabber language. They will have full on conversations when they are together. * Wedges himself in the small space between our mattress and foot board. He then complains that he is stuck and needs help out. When we get him out, he'll get himself stuck again. * 

Summer Olympics

We are thoroughly enjoying the summer Olympics in London in our household. 

(and maybe having a little too much fun with our cool new IPad app. Best $3 we've ever spent!)

Devin's idea of putting Zander in the car. 

High Five Friday

1. We booked our flights to Florida! It definitely doesn’t fit into our plan to save money, but we’ve been wanting to go for a long time. The last time we went was back in August 2006 when Devin and I were engaged. This time we can actually share a room together. It will be our first family vacation with just the three of us. 8 days of beach, surfing, tanning, gators, friends, and maybe we’ll get to see Mickey again this year. 4 weeks until we leave!.

2. I have LOVED our afternoon family time this past week. Devin and I making dinner together in the kitchen while Zander plays and we rock out to my quick mix Pandora station. I am definitely blessed to have my little family.

3. Grandma Judi came for a quick visit over the weekend. While here, we were able to do a family dinner with Kylie, Stevan, and the kids, get caught up on our celebrity gossip by reading our favorite tabloids, and have some quality mother/daughter shopping time. Zander was so sad after she left. Every time we get home from work, he thinks she’s inside the house and calls out for Grandma.

4. I am a reality show junkie. I’ve been following the Bachelorette this season and Sunday night was the finale. I admit that I was a cheat and looked online a few weeks ago to see who won. At first I was shocked that Emily picked Jef, but by the end of the season he definitely won me over despite his cheesy words and bouffant hairdo.  

5. We went to the lake on Saturday afternoon with Devin’s family. It was a hot sunny day so didn’t think we’d have to worry about the 40% chance of rain. When we got to Canyon Lake, the clouds started to roll in and eventually the crowded lake cleared out with the rain. The storm didn’t last long so we were able to go back on the water, but it was nice to take a moment to enjoy mother nature, the cooler weather, and the smell of the desert after it rained.

High Five Friday

I'm going to start a weekly post on the blog called High Five Friday. I think this is the perfect way to capture the small, but real things that happen in life that I may not take 100 photos about or do a full post on. Here’s hoping that I can keep this up and think of 5 things each week. 

 

1) Devin’s cousin Cerise had twin boys last week and I was able to go to the hospital for a visit on Monday. It was great to catch up with her and hear all the details of her labor. It has to be a mom thing that you ask about the labor details. Before Zander, that was one subject that I could skip over. I loved holding baby Kenneth, touching his soft skin, and taking in that baby smell. 

2)  We had the Kieta’s over on Monday and Thursday night for a Batman marathon. We watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight in preparation for The Dark Knight Rises which we watched last night. We were lucky enough to get tickets to an advanced screening of the movie so we saw it at 7pm instead of at midnight like all of the other crazy Batman fans. The new movie was a.w.e.s.o.m.e! Devin is already planning on seeing it again on Saturday. 

3)  Best Zander Reed moment of the week was when I got to hang out with him on Monday. We were in my bedroom and he wanted me to change my show to watch Yo Gabba Gabba. I of course was consumed with watching How I Met Your Mother and didn’t want to watch his show. I started watching HIMYM a few weeks ago and I’m already on Season 5 thanks to Netflix. Can I just say that I love Barney? Zander then proceeded to play and found the power strip which the tv is plugged into. After turning the power off and realizing that the tv was now turned off, he muttered “What Happened?”

4)  After getting his book last month and finally opening up the pages to read it, we are going to try the Dave Ramsey plan. We’ve been working over the last year to pay off debt and save money, but we are really in fast mode to continue with this. We have our emergency fund saved and now it’s time to start paying off the small credit card, medical, and car debt we have left. I can feel financial freedom!

5)  We started a book club at work and had our first discussion on the book The Art of Dancing in the Rain. I read this book in 3 days while we made the trip to Utah to visit the Merinos. Even more crazy is that after finishing the book, which is in the perspective of a dog named Enzo, I ended up seeing a restaurant called Enzo. If you haven’t read the book you probably won’t know the significance of that and I don’t want spoil the ending. Amazing book, amazing food, amazing discussion, and amazing company (Melanie & Ashley). Can’t wait to hear what the next pick is!  

It's Potty Time

Look who went on the potty for the first time! 

 We finally had Zander's appointment with a specialist at Phoenix Children's Hospital for abnormal gait. While the doctor said that his walking was normal for his age, he didn't think it was something to be concerned about right now. Since Zander only started walking around his 1st birthday, he is still trying to learn coordination and balance. He pointed out the fact that Zander's leg isn't straight between his knees and feet. It is more prominent on the right leg, which makes sense since this foot turns in more than the other one when he walks. The bone between the knee and ankle is still forming and doesn't harden until 4-5 years old. Same thing with the bone between the hip and knee although this is doesn't harden until 6-7 years old. (or something very close to these stats. I really wish doctors would write down everything they are saying to you during appointments. It's so hard to remember all the details.). The good news for now is that Zander is ok. We'll just have to continue to watch him and hope that he grows out of his goofy way of walking.

Double Date Night - Lolo's & Octane Raceway

We ran into Devin's Aunt Liddia and cousin Tiffanie at Lolo's.

Funny photos were more important than watching the instructional video.

We had a fun double date night with the Clawsons. Since we unknowingly bought the same Groupon for Octane Raceway earlier this year and it was set to expire in a few weeks, we knew that we needed to go. I'm glad we were able to coordinate sitters and make it a double date night. We always have so much fun with these two! 

We started with dinner at Lolo's Chicken and Waffles. While the combo seemed a bit weird to me, it was actually really good. Best fried chicken I've ever tasted. Plus KoolAid is always on tap. We then went to Octane Raceway. In both races, Jason won and I was happy to take the last spot.

Another fabulous Saturday at the lake. I'm so glad that we invested in getting the jet ski fixed so we can enjoy this new summer tradition as a family.  Zander is even starting to love riding on the jet ski. At the beginning of the summer he was interested in playing on shore with his toys. Today he couldn't wait to take a ride, even bringing me his life vest to put on so he could go for a ride with Devin.

4th of July

Gilbert Temple

I love how I can see Zander's little hands in the air copying Devin's actions.

4th of July this year was low key. With the holiday right in the middle of the week and rainy day temperatures, we were a bit restricted on places we could go. We ended up spending most of the day at home and spent the evening with Devin's siblings. We ate bbq beef sandwiches, did a little swimming in the community pool, and then headed to Discovery Park to watch the Gilbert firework show.