A not-too-full but pleasantly-busy Sunday!

He is so fast up the stairs...BUT he always looks back to make sure 

I am watching him ;)

He is so proud of himself when he reaches the top!

He gets into everything laying on the ground, 

especially anything that looks dangerous

He was only happy when we gave him HIS OWN menu to look at ;)

So happy drinking from a straw...and so messy too!

We had a VERY good day today...just enough of everything.

Spent the morning with the babe...then headed to youth group

Took Xander to childcare FOR THE FIRST TIME...He did great, of course!

Went to lunch at the Velvet Creamery...it was very good!

Used some coupons at Costco...found some GREAT deals

Xander fell asleep on the way home...took a long bath & relaxed

Spent some time catching up with Brandon...finished some conversations

Made some big decisions...working on a little church stuff

Headed over to the neighbors for game night...lots of laughs & I WON!!!

Took in a SNL episode...texted...facebooked...blogged

Made plans for tomorrow & even cleaned up the house

Time to go to bed...Good Night!

poor baby...

Not Xander, but Brandon! He needs your sympathy.   He fell down the stairs today while holding Xander.  Brandon was bring Xander downstairs and when Xander suddenly flung himself backwards trying to see around the corner and in his attempt to keep Xander safe Brandon lost his balance and tripped on the next step.  As they both bumped down the stairs, Brandon stuck out his foot to brace himself against the banister and caught his big toe in between the bars and stumbled down the rest of the way.  After he safely deposited Xander on the floor, he exampined his big toe to find it black/ blue and swollen.  HE HAD BROKEN HIS TOE! So he was in a lot of pain the rest of the day and has to hobble around all weekend.  poor baby... 

psycho scary repair man

Today I had a scary confrontation with a very unbalanced repair man.  Our air conditioner broke yesterday and in the Modesto heat, that just isn't gonna work for long so our landlord asked us to get 3 quotes to fix it.  Well, we had one very nice guy come out and cleaned the unit for us, talked with Xander and I, and gave us a very solid quote.  He was very kind and we chatted over glasses of ice cold water...and then the nuclear bomb of the century hit out of nowhere.  The next man that was supposed to give us a quote showed up and saw that there was another guy at the house and totally freaked out.  He started screaming at me that he just wasted his gas and that we were gonna have to pay him or he was going to take us to collections.  OUT OF NOWHERE! He didn't even take a moment to talk, he just started screaming at me, while I am holding Xander on my hip in the doorway.  I gently explained to him that our landlord wanted a quote (and she would have paid for his service call anyway) but he wouldn't even listen to me.  He just flipped out and wrote a bill and threw it at me.  I asked him to at least give us a quote, since that is what he was hired to do and he said he wasn't going to waste his time but if we didn't pay he was going to send it to the credit agency.  I don't know what he was on, but he was seriously out of his mind.  I was literally scared.  I called Brandon and asked him to come home right away because I didn't know what this guy was going to do.  Seriously, I think he lost his mind somewhere because he was out of control.  Too bad I don't have any pics to post of the situation.  That woulda been funny.  If I was like, "say cheese- this is for my blog..." hahaha! Now I kinda wish i had done that... 

He definitely has teeth!

One of Xander's favorite games to play used to be kissing our faces and "chewing" on our arms, fingers, chin...pretty much anything available.  Well, we have startled him a few times over the past week as he has tried to "play" with us and without warning we feel the sharp sting of his new little chompers gnawing at our unsuspecting flesh and we scream and jump up real quickly to end the game.  So sad...we will have to find a new game to replace that one soon!

Too cool...

My parents took Xander on a walk, so of course he needed his sweet shades to keep the sun out of his eyes.  I really think he knows just how adorable he is!

They picked up an awesome toy for him to celebrate his dedication (just an excuse to spoil him, of course!).  It is a little "bus" that he can ride, with wheels that he can scootch around the house.  It has an engine sound, a horn and plays music, which he likes to bounce and jig along with the songs.  He is so much fun and so engaging to watch play!    He is just such an intense kid!

SO cute...

Baby Dedication

Well...Xander is good and dedicated now! We had a beautiful service this morning at church with lots of support from many of our friends and family who traveled the world to be here with us!  It was a lot of fun to have everyone together here and get to hang out together with many of the people that we love so much!  We had such a houseful...it was  party all weekend.  My Dad cooked breakfast this morning and all the moms made lunch which was super nice.  They even cleaned up before I could offer to help!  They are all so sweet and I love them so much.  Everyone has gotten home safely now.  We are so glad that they could make it a priority to be here.  Such a great weekend!  It is so quiet here now...

My Friends are here!!!

We are having so much fun getting ready for Xander's dedication tomorrow.  We have such a houseful.  It is so nice to have everyone around.  We have my parents, the Faires three, the Pringles, the Barnes and Brandon's parents in town for the celebration! We will have a full day tomorrow...wish all the rest of our family and Redding friends could be here...

YEAH! My parents are here...

So my parents are finally here and I am very excited.  Xander just loves playing with them. I really believe that he remembers them from the last time he was with them.  They are so good with him and love him so much!

We had a great day. I picked them up in San Jose and then took them to the church where we met Brandon and showed them around.  Then we headed back to our house and they were so amazed! It is fun being in a new place to decorate, now that I have some help! Later on, my Dad and I went to the grocery store and he already knows his way around this town better than I do...how sad!

This evening, Brandon and I went to a new small group and met a lot of new people.  They were all very nice and interested in getting to know us.  We felt a part of the group and very comfortable.  We had a really good time and look forward to hanging out again next week! Gotta get some sleep now- my parents are here and I have to entertain them all day tomorrow! ;) (even though I know all they really want to do is hang out with Xander and watch him do all his amazing tricks!)- he learned most of those from his aunt KK!

Some more pics

We're S.i.i.i.i.ck!

Mega germs at the hendriks household.  Xander is still not feeling well with his ear infection (although you wouldn't be able to tell by his ever cheersome demeanor) and Brandon passed on his sinus congestion/runny nose/migraine/whatever is was to me! Hooray! So I have been trying to get better all weekend.  My parents get here on Wednesday and I certainly don't want to spend any part of their visit sick in bed! Xander has had a hard time sleeping because his ear is bothering him, so naptime was almost non-existent today. But Brandon has been a huge help with him.  Youth Group started about fifteen minutes ago, and of course, Xander decided to crash out about thirty min ago- which means I guess we are skipping out tonight.  I hate doing that.  I feel so out of the loop...but I know that it is the best 
for him so that's where I find myself on this Monday night.  Looking forward to this weekend.  Xander is getting dedicated so that should be very special.  Well, I am gonna go try to grab a nap since it is obvious now that we are not going to church. 

Brian Regan, two teeth and an ear infection!

We have had a great time hanging out in Redding these past few days...just not enough hours to see all of our friends that we love and miss so much.  Our initial plan was to come up to go see Brian Regan at the Cascade Theatre, but while we were here it just made the most sense to get Xander's shots too.  Unfortunately, Xander ran a high fever last night and decided to miserably pop out his second tooth this morning, which meant no shots for him today! I pulled the mom card and decided that was just too much for his little body to handle.  Good thing I am such a softie because just a few hours later I realized that he was consistently pulling on his little ear.  The Doctor thanked me for bringing him in so quickly because we caught it early and put him on anitbiotics so he should be feeling better tomorrow.  But, needless to say, hours of doctors visits, drugstores, sleepless nights and prescriptions is not how we planned to spend our weekend.  But we were blessed to have the comforts of home when he got sick and have our doctor close by. 

We did make it to Brian Regan tonight which was full of laughs and lots of friends.  It was like a mini-Redding reunion...we saw a lot of people we have not seen in awhile and it was great to catch up!  It is always fun to hang out with our close friends.  And we just love all of you (well, most of you) ;) so much!  So in the end, we had a great day...and still have a legitimate excuse (like we really need one) to get up here again real soon since Xander still needs to get his shots.

Thanks Gerry and Anna for letting us stay with you and for all your help with Xander! Haleigh is a lot of help too and really loves hanging out with the "baby" (if we can still call him that!) ;(

Our first overnight guest!

Thank you , Kim Faires, for receiving the honor of being our first official house guest! We love you very much and are so blessed to have you be such a great Mimzy to Xander!

I had a great weekend with Kim.  She and Tyler drove down this weekend to see us and then Tyler went on his way to Hume Lake.  He is going to produce videos there, as well as lead worship.  We are so excited for him as he begins this new exciting journey.  I am very proud of him.  He has done a lot of interesting things in his life as he explores the different skills and talents God has given him.  I look forward to seeing what God has planned for his future as he continues to serve the Lord with his gifts.  

Kim and I had a lot of fun exploring this new city I live in, while doing a lot of ordinary, everyday things.  It was actually very comforting to feel like I was still in my old routine. ;) We went to Target and shopped all the little red tags: we love those clearance items...always looking for  a great deal! And we found A LOT! Closet organizers, shoes, books and even an ironing board to name a few (yes- i have been married over 7 years and still did not own a real ironing board!) Then we headed over to Costco to see what great deals they had to offer, and of course we had to grab a coke while we were there! Afterwards, we took Xander to the mall to walk around and check out all the new stores. so fun!

Xander just woke up for a few minutes and I had to change him so when I picked him up to put him back to bed he just grabbed onto my neck and gave me the best hug ever.  I let him linger there for ten minutes longer than I should have but figured- these are moments in time I will never get back.  It was so precious.  He snuggled into my neck and twirled my hair in his fingers.  So sweet! He is such a loving boy! I just can't seem to spend enough time with him each day.  I just miss him so much every time he sleep...wake up baby xander! wake up! 

In a nutshell...

Today we walked down to the park in our neighborhood and let Xander play-Yes, he actually played in the park.  He swung on the swings and loved it! He giggled and squealed every time we pushed him.  Then he slid down the slide with Brandon sitting at the top and me at the bottom to catch him.  After the first time, he knew what to expect and started kicking his feet and laughing before we even sat him down again.  And then his feet would get tangled underneath him and he would end up spinning around before he reached the bottom...which made him laugh even harder! 

Later this evening he was playing in the bath and he kept throwing his toys out of the tub and then getting upset when he couldn't reach them.  So I decided to test his determination and I put a toy at the other end of the tub from where he was standing him and he actually walked down to the other end to grab it while holding onto the side! He is so awesome!!!

I had a good day today.  I watched a few boys for my friend, Sarah, while she got her hair cut.  It was nice to be able to pay back the favor because she watched Xander several times while we were down here looking for housing.  She has 3 cute little boys, ages 2,4 and 6 but I only had the two youngest.  Later this evening Brandon and I worked really hard to get a few more pieces of our house put together to help it start to feel like comfortable.  We are still missing a few items and playing the guessing game as we try to pick the right boxes to unpack.  Brandon is doing well at the church and is starting to get to know some of the other pastors.  We are really looking forward to his day off tomorrow!  It will be nice to have a chance to rest and catch up a little bit on our lives!

He's not a baby anymore ;(

YAH! Xander got his first tooth today! Finally!!! He has been a little fussy these past few days due to the fact that he was teething (which in Xander terms basically means he cries every once in awhile because his teeth hurt)  It was wierd.  Actually he was sleeping a lot today.  Which I thought was especially odd since he slept pretty well last night.  But i figured maybe he was just finally learning to sleep on his own.  Well tonight his tooth finally broke the surface and so hopefully i am praying that he will sleep all through the night tonight!!! I am a little sad because I really love his adorable toothless grin.  Good thing I have lots of pictures!  It just seems a little sad because he won't look like a baby anymore...It really makes me sad.  Oh no! I am gonna be one of THOSE moms! But seriously, I will never get those toothless grins back again.  Ever! This is making me sad.  He is only 7 months and I am already thinking he is growing up too fast and I want those moments back.  I really shouldn't blog this late at night!  I should be sleeping...like Xander is right now and for the whole night until at least 8 am! You will hear all about it tomorrow...Goodnight!

Get ready world...

Here he comes! Xander is desperately trying to stand and walk! I swear this kid is so intellegent it is almost scary.  He actually practices his skills! Seriously.  Like the other day he was playing in the bath tub and he discovered that he could pull himself up by holding onto the side of the tub.  So then he repeatedly would grab onto the side, struggle and grunt to pull himself, slipping and sliding, into a standing position, stand there for a few minutes and grin at me, before he scooted his legs back, stuck his little ba-donk-a-donk out as far as he could and then intentionally let go of the side and with a face full of fear/pride/wonderment, he would let himself splash down into the water...then repeat! He must have done that about ten times in a row! 

And then the stairs...oh the stairs! He crawls over to the stairs, while he glances me a few looks over his shoulder to make sure I am watching...and then precariously wobbles onto the first step...and then a huge beam comes across his face as he quickly scans the room to see my reaction.  And then he scootches and stretches to reach the next step and grunts to pull himself up the next one, followed of course by another quick glance to survey his audience.  He has only climbed as far as the fourth step, but he is learning quickly...and we haven't yet mastered the downward spiral yet.  It is still more of a tumble down to the bottom before he starts the uphill climb again.

He is keeping me very busy but is such a bundle of joy! I love him so much and am so grateful for the time I get to have at home with him each day.  He is so full of life and can bring a smile to anyone's face...and he does!  He knows no strangers and has opened many conversations for me in all social situations (like I needed any help!) ;)

We're Here...finally!

My last month has been one long sad goodbye..in between making many trips down to Modesto to prepare for our big move, tying up loose ends, lots of lunches/dinners with friends and trying to find a place to live!  But we are here...finally! And it is such a relief to be able to relax and rest in our beautiful new home! It is so big and fits our needs (and desires) so perfectly.  We miss our friends in Redding very much, but are feeling very blessed by the home God has prepared for us.

I have been very busy these past few days unpacking boxes, trying to find places for everything in our house, organizing cabinets/drawers and unloading boxes and boxes of shoes, boots & heels!  We have received a lot of help from the people at Big Valley Grace.  We had a revolving door of help all day on Saturday, as people would come for a few hours to help unpack, clean and pull weeds! They have really blessed us and already made us feel welcomed! A few people even brought over dinner, so we are hooked up for the next few days (which is great since you all know- I don't cook!) hahaha! ;)

I will post some pictures of the house when I find my computer cord...it is still in a box, who knows where...we are still surrounded by boxes and boxes of STUFF! everywhere i turn, there is another pile, hidden under the table, desk, breakfast bar, in closets...They are everywhere! Please people! C0me down here and help me unpack!!! ;)  Speaking of...we have already had a few visitors which definitely spiced up my day.  Tyler, Ryan and Jillian dropped by on their way home to Redding.  It was so nice to see some familiar faces, hang out and talk and get some great hugs! We also got to see the Barnes family several times this weekend, since they were in the area for Evelyn's baby shower.   That was great too! we had fun playing games, eating dinner, and just hanging out like the old days!  We look forward to seeing more of our friends from Redding...we love you guys and miss you very much!