Stand Still

STAND STILL by: Hilary Weeks
I’ve been taking pictures for a long, long timeSome are on paper – but most are in my mindSnapshots and memories of the days when you were youngI plan to keep themLong after you’ve grown and gone
I remember watching as you took your first stepSeems the clock’s been running faster ever sinceEvery day a little taller, it says so on the wallThe days are passingAnd they’re not going to stop
And if I couldI wouldAsk time to stand stillSo I could hold you a little longerI'd make the minutes stopSo we would always have todayI won’t let the sun go downUntil you know how I feelI love you so muchI wish time could stand still
Fingerprints all over the sliding glass doorAnd I can barely see underneath the toys on the floorI have wished away the sleepless nights, the noise and the messes madeBut my heart reminds meI'm gonna miss these days
So if I couldI wouldAsk time to stand stillSo I could hold you a little longerI'd make the minutes stopSo we would always have todayI won’t let the sun go downUntil you know how I feelI love you so muchI wish time could stand still

Aleks is almost 15 months old.  FIF.  TEEN.  MONTHS.  Whaaaaa?!?!?!?!  How did this happen?  Where is my little cuddly chunky baby?  oh yeah.  He turned into a full-blown toddler.  My heart leaps as I see him growing and learning yet breaks as he slips farther away from babyhood.

Right now he LOVES Elmo, Elmo, and oh yeah, ELMO!  He says a few words:  mama, sigh (outside), whasahhhh (what's that), whassisssss (what's this), da (dad), baba (bottle), no (no), beep (nose), la-la (elmo)...and I'm sure I'm leaving out a few, but that's all that comes to mind right now.

He can climb on the couch by himself.
He loves to watch Elmo on the iPad and on my phone.
He loves to eat bananas and still loves to eat jarred baby food.
He is bow-legged.  (still haven't gotten a great pic of that!)
His hair keeps getting lighter and lighter!
He sleeps like a champ!
He HATES to have anything on his feet - and works very hard to get them off!
He loves his big brothers.
He loves to snuggle and be tickled by daddy.
He is now giving closed-mouth kisses.  :)
He has 14 teeth.
He loves music and loves to dance!

This little man is a joy to have in our family, and I am falling deeper in love with him every moment.

How did I get so lucky?

big five year old

I can't stand how fast time flies!  My sweet little blonde baby is already FIVE!  It feels like he was just born...  He has always been so mellow and easy-going...I used to joke that he was proof that Heavenly Father wanted me to have more kids, so he gave me an easy baby :)  Drew slept through the night at 7 weeks old, and has always been a good sleeper.  He is such a sweet boy and gives the best kisses!  (seriously if you've never seen his pucker-up duck lips, you MUST!)  He is in kindergarten and loves every minute of it!  He recently taught himself how to ride a two wheeler, (no training wheels!) and so we got him his own bike for his birthday...along with rain boots which he had been begging for, and a giant jar of pickles -- his favorite!  We celebrated at Pump It Up with his friends and had a great time.  We love you Drewbie Drew!



 

2 weeks old



Star of the show :)



A bunch of sweaty kids!



I love my silly blonde boy!!!!

Halloween Fun - 2012

We had a fun Halloween -- in spite of the nasty stomach flu we got a few days before!  Halloween is one of my favorite holidays -- how can you go wrong with fun costumes and free candy??  LOVE IT! 

The week before Halloween, we took the boys to Tanaka Farms Pumpkin Patch in Irvine - and I am ashamed to say this was my first time going there after years of hearing rave reviews! It was beautiful - absolutely serene and I can't wait to go back. Who knew there was a hidden gem so close to us? We did the wagon ride around the farm, and then explored the corn maze. We will definitely go again next year! I'd love to take the boys to pick strawberries some time also...that would be really fun. 

The Kindergarten classes took a field trip to the pumpkin patch at Westminster High School, and it was quite disappointing!  Their pumpkin patch was quite bare, and the kids ended up picking pumpkins from a trailer instead of off the vine.  Oh well, Drew didn't seem to mind! 

This is the Kindergarten costume parade...he chose to wear his new fireman rainboots with a fireman jacket instead of the mummy costume, because that mummy costume is too tight to wear over your regular clothes.  The funny glasses/nose he's wearing were from the goody bags from his birthday party -- didn't you know that all firemen wear those??  LOL

The older boys were able to go to the Trunk-or-Treat at church on Saturday night (Aleks was sick that day), and then got to trick-or-treat again on Halloween night. Needless to say we have loads of candy left over! So I am making a special delivery to the bishop's office today -- I hope he will be happy for the donation!!! (It's about 8 lbs of candy!)

Drew was completely grossed out while cleaning the "guts" out of his pumpkin, and abandoned ship quite early -- so I finished it for him.  I personally love carving pumpkins, so I didn't mind.  This was the first year we bought Pumpkin Masters carving tools (actually I got them on clearance last year!) and I am kicking myself for not doing this sooner!  It seriously makes carving so much easier!  Jakob carved his own design - a Grim Reaper - all by himself! 

I had grand plans for us to all be garden gnomes -- but that idea didn't really fly with the kids...or Brad. :) So, I settled for a baby garden gnome - the Travelocity Roaming Gnome to be exact. Brad and I were going to dress up as a team from The Amazing Race - but he ended up working late that day and I knew we didn't have time to pull our costumes together -- plus Aleks absolutely HATED his hat/beard, so that was kind of a bummer, but at least I got a picture of him - it wouldn't have worked if I didn't have someone there to hold his hands so he couldn't rip the hat off! (Thanks Todd!)

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween too! 

Sweet Pea turns 1

I can hardly believe that this little chunk is now a year old!  I really hate how fast time flies...and try to absorb each and every moment with my children as I know they will only be children for a short time.  Aleksander is such a sweet boy.  So happy-go-lucky and quick to smile and giggle.  He has brought me immense joy and I can truly say that I am "in love" with him!  He currently loves climbing on anything and everything, putting anything and everything into his mouth, playing peek-a-boo, laughing at his brothers, dancing, walking, babbling, napping, guzzling milk like it's going out of style, and flirting with whoever will give him the time of day. 

 

I love you sweet angel, and am so thankful that you're mine.

 

Here's a glimpse at Aleks over the past year...



Birth

 

1 week



2 weeks

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months



6 months



7 months

8 months
 

9 months

 



10 months



11 months

1 year