Xander Joins the Family

Here he is.

After a long hot summer surviving on La Croix dressed up with fresh mint and frozen fruit, after those final weeks when grunts and sighs accompanied Eddie's invitation to play with him on the floor, after a limited wardrobe to go with my limited energy, and after hours upon hours of dreaming, planning, praying, and more dreaming...

He burst into our life!

Lil Alexander Man

Did I mention 21 hours of labor? Hey, that's half the time it took last time around! So I'll take it! I was forcing myself to choke down six dates everyday the weeks before he was born since they say it'll shorten early labor and help keep your water from breaking early on. Still I found myself with little baby contractions in the middle of the night, and after only a few hours of laying there in the dark trying to snooze, I heard/felt a *pop* followed by a little trickle. And everything proceeded to follow that familiar pattern--just like with Eddie, but in about half the time. 

Actually, laying in bed my contractions were the strongest and most consistent. Once I was up and moving, they came and went without hardly noticing. Every once in awhile there would be a really good one. Grammy was in town and came to stay with Eddie that morning while Jonathan and I stuck to our plan of a breakfast date. We did go to the Dish, that much closer to the hospital, just in case things would suddenly take a quick turn. They didn't. We took our time, went for a walk, did some window shopping. When we finally did get checked in to the hospital things were progressing steadily, just slowly. After several hours, right about 12 hours after my water had broken (with Eddie they let me go 24) I was put on pitocin to help speed things along (they actually remembered to turn it on this time!). And after several hours of that I felt like I'd accomplished my goal: make it as long as I can without an epidural. Once that kicked in at about 7:30 pm we settled in to wait for our precious little boy's arrival. We talked about his name. We still weren't 100% set, but since Eddie was ("His name is A'xander." He'd announce if you asked him about baby brother.), well, what do you do? 

Dr. Yun was not on call that weekend, but since the on-call doctor wasn't feeling well, she actually got to deliver him anyway! Just like with Eddie (noticing the theme?), after only a few pushes the staff cautioned that this part would be quick and they took their time. Almost everyone on the floor was in our room when he was born, perks of a small hospital with no other maternity patients, I guess. Lexi, our nurse, was a dear! She claimed we named him after her. She was a good sport with all my weird reactions to labor, heart rate speeding up with contractions being the strangest one.

Unlike giving birth to Eddie, this time I was on my back not my side so I could actually see as he made is debut. Wow, there really is nothing like babies being born. So miraculous, so amazing, but also so commonplace and ordinary at the same time. It's so strange to think that everyone has been born, but it's such a powerfully unique moment in time.

And then he was on my chest! Squirmy and red and chubby! Eight pounds, one ounce! They'd said he was measuring big! What a little honey!

And then, just when I thought my heart was full to bursting, the next morning Grammy brought Eddie to see his new baby brother! We'd done a lot of talking about what it would be like. On the way to the hospital he told Grammy he was nervous.

Weeks later, and still now, more than 2 months later, he'll randomly pronounce, "I love our baby! I'm not nervous anymore!"

Welcome, Lil Xander Man!

You are so loved!

The Altar of Life

Yesterday, as I reached for my journal, Eddie leaned from his place beside me on the couch and tugged on my arm.

"Scoot back," he said.

He wants to be close, to snuggle as he plays the shape game on the iPad and I write, read, sip coffee. It's rainy outside. Xander (I'll introduce you to him soon.) is content to snooze in the swing nearby.

This moment is all I treasure about Mom-hood in this season--my priesthood for now. Sure, there's a dryer full of laundry waiting to be folded and put away, emails need drafting, dirty dishes and unmade beds call for my attention. But I scoot back and snuggle in next to my little boy.

I chose to sit there and savor the moment, cherish it, offer it up like incense on the altar of my life.

"Welcome to your own priesthood, practiced at the altar of your own life."

-Barbara Brown Taylor

An Altar in the World

If there is a word that could sum up the past six months, I'd say cherish. In the months before giving birth again and welcoming another little boy into our family, I was doing my best to cherish the moments Eddie was my mom-world. To soak up with joy all the time I could give him my undivided attention without another mouth to feed, another bottom to clean, another little person needing me. I was taking note of the simplicity of life with just one child. I was cherishing the last times we'd do this or that as a family of three. 

Then my heart exploded as little Xander joined our family. And there was so much more to cherish, each moment calling to be held close because then it's gone. The little tiny baby stage is so fleeting, and the blur of adjustments and sleeplessness make it that much harder to really take in. There is a terrible ache in a mom's heart when her baby reaches milestones--all mixed in with the pride and delight and sheer joy of it! Because that means those little moments once savored are now memories to treasure. People tell you to enjoy this season because "it goes by so quickly!" Let me just say I've taken that advice to heart. These are cherished moments I'm living these days. And I don't want to miss a thing!

It's crossed our minds lately that we could rearrange Eddie's room to optimize space, because...

Yep! Coming in November!

So this is an option for optimizing space in our kids' room :)

Yippee for expanding our family!

Snapshots of Eddie Life

Here's the latest about our sweet lil Eddie! I've found I take more videos than I did before of our dear boy. It's just so amazing, his words, ideas and silly antics. So sprinkled in with the photos are some "moving snapshots" of his busy toddler life these days.

 Quite the artist!

Absolutely had a blast exploring a nearby canyon.

We have an outdoorsman!

"Rocketships" have become a recent favorite.

This is his countdown and "blastoff"!

This book was a baby gift from my dear friend and fellow Pride and Predjudice lover, Katie May.

It tells the basic plot line of the story, if you're not familiar with it. Eddie loves it because he can "read" it himself. 

He does love a good book!

Current favorites are Jonah, Daniel and the Lions, a great book we got from the library called "Flight 1-2-3", "Train Song", "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", and "Little Blue Truck".

And this is an old one from last fall, but oh so funny!
Thankfully, he has yet to figure out the climbing out part!

Never a dull moment! 

The Big Birthday Post

I only just realized I never documented all our birthday celebrations! With Eddie in December and then both Jonathan and I in January with Christmas sandwiched in between, it must have gotten lost in all the celebrating!

First,

Our lil' Eddie turns 2!

He does this adorable thing where he holds up both pointer fingers on each hand to say that he's two.

We had a little celebration with Great Grammy and Uncle Steven the weekend before his birthday. In typical two-year-old fashion, he only made it through one present, Steven's Thomas the Train play tent!

On the actual day, we went to a local mall in the evening. It's outdoors and was all decked out for Christmas. The whole month of December they do an evening "snowfall" where fine little white bubbles spray out from all over while "Let it Snow" plays in the background.

 He was actually kind of freaked out of the "snow".

(I don't blame him.)

And the highlight: riding the trolley car!

He kept calling it a "boose" (caboose). He LOVED it! 

(As we knew he would, anything train related is his favorite right now!)

In Illinois a few weeks later, Gramps made this awesome Thomas cake.

Eddie was impressed, but he was so fascinated by the blue rail train set he could hardly be pulled away from it, even for cake or presents! 

It went like this: 

"Eddie, it's time to open your birthday presents!"

Eddie: "NOOOOOOO!!!" (*sob*)

Then he'd half-heartedly open a present and get somewhat excited, only to return to the train! (This was a theme all through our Christmas, but he got his very own blue rail train from Gramps and Grammy, so we're all set!)

For my birthday, we were in San Diego at a work conference of Jonathan's. 

 Dunkin' Donuts!

Our hotel had this great deal which gave you a $5 coupon to spend at their restaurants for every day you didn't get your room cleaned. That goes a long way toward coffee and donuts! So Eddie and I shared a special birthday treat! He is now quite a fan of "donells"!

 That night we went out to a modern Italian restaurant in downtown San Diego.

So so so so delicious!

(I forgot to take a picture of the food before I ate it!)

Jonathan, unfortunately, had a miserable day at work on his birthday. Ugh! Adulthood is just not so fun sometimes! But we tried to make up for it with a special dinner at home!

 The one snapshot of celebrating Dad!

I made his favorite, bruschetta, and we put candles in yogurt dessert to sing. Eddie, having come to understand a little about what birthday means ("Candles!"), has thoroughly enjoyed all the birthday celebrations! But now we have to wait the whole year for more!

December/January Travels

Merry Christmas!

A little backstory, just before this sweet moment between Baby Jesus and His Mama, Eddie was banging Jesus against the roof of the stable saying, "Ouch!" Perhaps a little more typical of a two-year-old. When I mentioned maybe Baby Jesus needed a kiss from His mama since He'd gotten hurt, Eddie put to use his new found knowledge that Mary was Jesus' Mama. That's what he's saying, "Mama Mary".

Our family traveled for the holidays this year. It was the first time we went to Illinois to be with family for Christmas. After several California Christmases, which are a blast, don't get me wrong, we were excited for a taste of our Christmas roots!

Festival of Lights!

Jonathan's family grew up going to the Festival of Lights. I can only remember going with the Zobrists once, although it was something to remember--we went in a limousine! However, I can't recall anything about the lights themselves, I only remember I was sitting on my mom's lap, not buckled in and I was terrified the whole time the police were sure to find out and I'd be carted off to jail. 

Anyway...this time was much more fun! We drove through the displays after enjoying shakes at Steak 'N' Shake. All this while we were staying at Embassy Suites in Peoria. So fun! Manager's Reception and board games, swimming and hot tub-ing, late night conversation, omelettes for breakfast! 

Of course, we had to celebrate Eddie's birthday again! We'd had a little party at our house closer to his big day, but we had another celebration at Gramps' and Grammy's. 

Gramps made an epic cake--Thomas the Train coming out of a tunnel! 

Eddie's favorite!

Jonathan's blue rail train which is still at his parents house, was a BIG hit with Eddie! He'd seen it on FaceTime, but in person, he was hooked. Not even birthday presents could tear him away from it! 

Decorating cookies and a gingerbread house!

My sweet nephew, Archer!

Christmas Eve we celebrated with the Sauders.

Pajamas all day! Ebelskivers for brunch, a tradition. Themed stockings, this year was "wearables", and ranged from ear buds, to socks, to temporary tattoos, to band-aids. My favorite Christmas activity with the Sauders is what we call, Gifts to the Family. Everyone has to come up with something to share with everyone. We spread them out throughout the day, and it's a blast! I put together a little booklet of Christmas songs and played the piano while we sang them. We had a Christmas story or two, a slideshow of pictures throughout the year, board game time (during which Eddie played with the train. Seriously. From time to time we'd hear, "A boten" (it's broken) when he'd need help hooking up a car or fixing the track, otherwise, he played by himself for over an hour!). I'd highly recommend gifts to the family, so much fun!

Christmas Day we headed to my parents' house to celebrate with the Zobrists the day after Christmas. Zach and Amelia came over to spend the night too, so we had late night snacks and conversation and games (something we did several times over the course of our trip, we stayed up way later than we should have!). 

Cousins!

It's crazy to think what the next few years will bring for these little guys! This Christmas was pretty mellow with 2 babies and a toddler, but just imagine two years from now! Yikes! They'll be getting into all kinds of trouble!

Then we had another big Christmas party with my mom's family!

Eddie participating in the traditional Knapp Family Nativity.

Oh the memories I have of dressing up with all my cousins to act out the Christmas story! It was so fun to get to dress up Eddie and have him join in the fun! He really didn't know quite what to think. But he did know he wanted to be a shepherd. Weeks beforehand I'd ask him, "What do you want to be, a shepherd or an angel?" It varied. But that night he was sure!

Me and my little shepherd.

It was a wonderful trip! No white Christmas, but such sweet memories with family! It was exhausting! A lot more celebrating than we've been used to in the past few years, and not being home in your own bed every night takes it's toll. We were ready to head home when the time came! Unfortunately, the day we were supposed to leave there was an ice storm. Everyone was without power, and, of course, our flight was cancelled. Thankfully we were still at my parents' house, didn't have to spend the night in an airport or anything. We were all packed up ready to go, but then stayed two more nights.

At the airport a few days later, ready to head back to warm California!

Just in time for New Year's! A big deal just south of us in Pasadena! 

We met up with some good guys (Jesse, Steven, Andrew, and Ryan)

For our traditional (at least we hope it becomes tradition!) walk down Orange Grove to see the floats lining up the night before the Rose Parade. Yes, Eddie slept instead of looking at the spectacular floats. Poor guy was still on Illinois time and it was late! We watched the parade the next day from the warmth and comfort of our living room! 

Then off traveling again! To Phoenix for the weekend to celebrate and send off a dear friend, Kailey, who is spending the semester in Jordan. From there straight to San Diego. Jonathan had a conference and Eddie and I came along for the ride. We stayed right in downtown which would've been such fun to explore except it rained all week. We did venture out some, but did a lot of relaxing and playing in the hotel.

It was my birthday while we were there!

Jonathan took me out to a delicious modern Italian restaurant!

Most notable about our stay in San Diego was how much time we spent looking out the window. We were on the 11th floor and from our suite we could see the train station and trains coming and going, the airport and airplanes coming and going, and the harbor and boats coming and going. It was a two-year-old boy's dream come true!

I got to visit a friend who recently moved to the San Diego area. She's a dear friend, kindred spirit, so it was so good to catch up, meet her new baby boy and watch her daughter and Eddie get reacquainted and play together.

Probably Eddie's favorite San Diego adventure was our trip to the Children's Museum. I basically followed him around while he explored (I learned why one usually plans these sorts of things with other moms and their kiddos).

Building stuff!

He could've hung out here all day 

pushing the wooden cars on this cool track!

The last day we were there, it was finally sunny! We took the stroller out and found this antique carousel! I couldn't resist!

He pretty much looked like this the whole time.

Like he was ready to bolt and leave this weird experience behind.

But he said it was fun afterword.

After all that fun! All that's left to say is...HOME SWEET HOME!

Catching Up

It finally feels like fall. And while, since being back from a busy summer for a few months now, the change in weather gives it a more official feel to say we've entered a new season. The temperature has finally cooled down (my poor mid-western roots just can't let go of expecting fall to arrive once the calendar says September) and Angelenos are pretending scarves and boots are appropriate attire because they almost are! Hey, after temps in the high 90's, 80 degrees actually does feel cool!

The other morning, the crispness was real and made me pull out my autumn-time music. Do you have those albums that you first heard and loved at a specific season or in a specific location? I do. So Eddie and I ate our breakfast while singing along with Jon Thurlow to Your Faithfulness and Strong Love. It's a favorite, folks.

But if we were truly catching up about the past months, I'd have to include some major events, not just the lovely mundane. My parents and grandparents came to visit. So, so special. We had a wonderful time!

Enjoying the Beach!

My Mom and Dad brought Eddie a little Thomas the Train set and acommplished the establishment of Eddie's love of trains. All the train travel in Japan started it, but Thomas has opened his eyes to the world of choo-choo, tunnels, track, lights, STOP! and all that fun! He is now constantly finding anything that qualifies as a tunnel, building tunnels, crawling through tunnels. 

Books are another developing pastime!

I can't love it enough! He's learning so much!

We've had numerous beach days! And Eddie continues to love it!

He's gotten braver, actually getting wet and enjoying it! The beach in September and October is the best! The summer crowds are gone, but the weather is absolutely perfect--hot days and warm-ish water. 

Dates! Here we are at the Huntington Chinese Garden for the Harvest Moon Festival.

Thanks to Joe's willing babysitting, we also spent an evening at CalTech for a special viewing of the PhD Movie 2 which was super fun to watch with a bunch of PhD students in the audience.

Speaking of leaving Eddie with a babysitter...the transition back to our activies, namely MOPS and Bible Study have been challenging as Eddie has been struggling with going to childcare. I've deduced that he's fine at home with someone he knows or even at someone else's house. It must be the overwhelming context of lots of other kids and in an unknown place. He is getting better at not crying when I leave him and actually braving the other kiddos to play and enjoy himself. But those first few weeks were rough! 

Speaking of rough...we are braving the Whole30: 30 days of clean eating (no grains, dairy, sugar, legumes). Jonathan has always wondered if we'd feel better, as people claim, going off certain foods for awhile. Well...so far, we can't report miraculous results, but we're hoping for a boost of energy, better sleep and focus. We will see. 

In the meantime, I'm cooking thing like this Sweet Potato Cottage Pie (so good!) 

and generally bemoaning all the yummy things we have to pass up.

Half way! 

A highlight was this past weekend! Baptisms in Altadena church! The first since I've moved here! It was a wonderful weekend, made even more special because of all the visitors, including Grammy and the aunts! 

We went to Travel Town. The trains made. his. week. 

My favorite was at the baptism, they invited the kids to come up and gather around close to be able to see. I took Eddie up, and he was mesmerized! As we sat down he said, "Water. Wet." So sweet. 

Summer Summation So Far

Summer days! Ahhh! It was long awaited around here! And it has been full of fun! Here's a quick recap so I can feel up-to-date and ready to post on Japan! We leave next week on our international adventure with some of our favorites who are featured in some of these photos since they've been here in CA for a few weeks now!

But before the Sauder clan arrived...

We found a beach playground!

Jonathan had some business a few hours away where there happen to be some gorgeous beaches! So Eddie and I tagged along and amused ourselves until Jonathan was done. We spent the following day exploring Santa Barbara, a first for me. It met expectation, I'll say that. It was lovely, beautiful, a bit crowded and certainly worth seeing!

 We met up with friends!

This park play date with a moms group friend of mine and her son was the first time I saw Eddie really interact with a playmate instead of just playing along side them. These two had a blast, copying each other, jabbering back and forth, and it warmed our mother hearts!

 We cooked yummy new foods!

I've started this new thing with a few long distance friends: Tuesday Aprontastique! (yes, that's apron-fantastic-in-French). We all meet up on Google Hangout to cook dinner together across several time zones. We catch up, get to try a new dish on our families, and get to glimpse a window into each other's lives. It's a blast! We always text photos of the completed meal just for fun!

 More new food! 

JPL had a heritage fair full of food booths from around the world. As with any JPL event, it was packed! But fun!

 First skinned knee!

He proceeded to repeat this event several times in just a few days! Something tells me he's developing some speed! And trust me, it's not all smiles when he goes down!

 "Tea, a drink with jam and bread..."

When these folks got to town, we kicked off their first weekend here by going to the Sound of Music Sing-A-Long at the Hollywood Bowl. It was AMAZING! Basically, we watched the movie on a gigantic screen with a whole host of other Sound of Music fans, and every time a song began, the words popped up on the screen karaoke style and everyone joined in! People dressed up (hence, our curtain-fabric kerchiefs), we brought props for different parts of the movie (tea with jam and bread, pink lemonade, etc.), it was a blast!

We've done quite a bit of beach time!

He's pretty precious!

Agua! 

(one of his favorite new words)

Fireworks were a bit more frightening this year.

Eddie would bury his head in my shoulder and spent the first few minutes shuddering. Then he'd do this funny thing where he'd frantically lunge for Dad, then Grammy, then on down the line, then back to me, probably looking for someone who'd take him away from the loud booms and bright lights! 

Eddie LOVES the beach!

He could play in the sand all day, and he likes the waves, but has a healthy fear of the cold water (which I don't mind!).

Our big project a few weekends back--cleaning out the garage and patio!

Thanks to some great helpers/babysitters, by evening we were celebrating with our inaugural patio dinner!

Jonathan and I even made it away for a few days, just us!

We relived our honeymoon by setting off down the Pacific Coast highway in our little convertible--this time we went south, though, and stayed just a few hours away in San Diego. It was a treat to have so much "us" time after the past few months of craziness as we bought and fixed up our house! And I was happy knowing our little guy was in good hands while we were away, and he might be missing us, but mostly was soaking up some spoiling!

After our trip, we made it back into town just in time for a work event Jonathan was invited to--an evening concert at the LA Arboretum. The show was a lot of fun: a great group of guys impersonating the Beatles performed along with a full orchestra! 

This isn't from the show we were at, but it was very similar!

And this past weekend...

We celebrated a very special Grammy's birthday!

Our Huntington picnic was rained out (in drought-stricken California, I know, go figure), but we had a wonderful party inside complete with fancy cake, which was delicious! 

Overall, this summer has surpassed all the high hopes for good times! It's been one to remember! And as Mr. Whitaker would say, "The Best is Yet to Come!" Stay tuned for a recounting of our Japan trip!