Play Time

Jaxon has a new favourite past time....if he is in a good mood. He has really started to like to lay on his back on the floor and kick up a storm. He has an activity centre that he has started to play with with his hands as well.

Not only does he like to kick up a storm, but he has also started to talk up a storm....nothing that is recognizable by any means, but it still pulls on the strings of my hear.

My little boy is growing up SOOOO fast.

Boo

Well, Halloween was a lot different this year with a little kiddeo!!! We started out on our day of trick or treating at 11:00am by heading to Milverton to the bank so that we could visit with my co-workers. We then had a full afternoon, and evening of places to stop and visit with our little teddy bear. In the afternoon Trisha and Reed (who was dressed in the same costume as Jaxon) joined us for a couple of stops and daddy also took the day off so that he could join us as well. Lexy even got dressed up and tagged along for the fun.

It was a lot of work trucking him in and out of his car seat at all the stops.....but sooooo worth it. It was a lot of fun, and we had one VERY tired little teddy bear on our hands after all was said and done. Our last stop was at gammie and gampa Strachan's where he spent the night, and Curt and I headed off to a house warming party. He had no problems sleeping through the night for them, as he was whipped after his day of trick-or-treating!!!!

Little Pumpkin's Party

Jaxon had a Halloween party to go to today with his friends at his girlfriend's Hadliegh's house. There were 9 little ones there. Most of them ranged in age from 8 moths - 14 months, and Jaxon was the only really little one. The rest of them can actually sit on their own, play with toys, and with the others. Jaxon just got to sit in my arms at watch them play.

They all had to dress up and we tried to get a group shot of them all.....but that was unsuccessful. I did manage to get a shot of Jaxon with Brooklyn and Joslin and a solo shot of Hadleigh.

Not only did they not want to co-operate to get their pictures taken, but they also did not want to keep their costumes on either.

Poor kids...what we parents don't put them through for our own amusement.

Halloween Fun

Sunday was Strachan family Halloween fun day at mom and dads.

Cara and I had been out last weekend at a craft show in Grand Bend and stopped in at the candy store in Exeter on our way home for our annual carmel apple. While we were there we got a few great ideas for candy to give to our 'special kids' and we had to get together to put them all together and yesterday was the day. We decided to make a whole family fun day out it and throw in some pumpkin carving and some gingerbread making.

When I was a child my Aunt Vera always made the best gingerbread men for Halloween, and I always said that I wanted to learn how to make them some time. Last Tuesday night mom and I went for a visit with aunt Vera and got her recipe for them and we put them together yesterday.

The family fun day started out with our pumpkin carving. Everyone was involved....except my dad. He is a party pooper and just sat on the sidelines and watched us have all the fun. My grandmas even joined us for the afternoon. Some of us got creative....and some did not [Cara;)]. Justin was nice enough to help Jaxon out in carving his pumpkin as well.

As a child I can always remember carving our pumpkins and roasting the seeds to eat after we were done. No on really likes the seeds except my dad and I, so they did not want to go through all the trouble to pick them out...but I did. The best is after all is done, smelling them roast in the over. They were great!!!!

After we were done with the carving we got to work on our treats for our trickers and our gingerbread.

We got everything together and done and it was dark out so we were able to get our pumpkins all lite up to see what they looked like.It is really nice that my family is all in the area, and we are able to start all of these new family traditions. As a child we always did it, but it never had the same meaning as it does now. I am so lucky that we will be able to raise Jaxon doing all these fun family things with his aunts, uncles and grandparents.(Justin's pumpkin is the ghost, mom's is the 'trick or treat', mine is the big face, Cara's

is the little face, Curt's is the Habs (imagine) and Jaxon's is the little ghost)

Spoiled Little Boy

Yesterday we finally got around to having our Strachan family Thanksgiving. It was actually kind of nice to have it later on in October. Everyone was able to make it because they did not have other family gatherings to attend, and we did not have to have 3 turkey dinners all in the same weekend.

Jaxon was spoiled all day long being passed around by his great aunts, and even a great-great aunt. His great grandma had lots of cuddles for him as well and he got to meet some of his new cousins. His poor grandma was hosting the gathering so she really did not get a chance to spend much time with him which I don't think she liked too much, but realized that she had to share.

Jaxon was also spoiled with presents from some of his aunts and uncles. He got a very nice new white and red leather chair that he can sit in a watch the Habs games with his daddy along with a teddy bear to go with it.

He was also lucky enough to get a blanket that was knitted by his great-great-great grandmother. Great grandma Liz passed away 3 years ago, and it to bad that Jaxon was never able to meet her, but he will always have a piece of her know. These are the little things that I hope he can cherish for the rest of his life.

A day with Addy

Last week Jaxon and I were over to visit my friend Laura and her 3 kids. She was telling me that on her days off she could never get anything one having 1 almost three year old, and twin one and a half year old boys. I kind of understood what she was saying, because there are some days that I do not get anything done, and that is only with one child. I so graciously offered to take her oldest off her hands some Thursday so that she could get something done if she wanted. When I offered she said she might even go to the city shopping if she would only have two. I then offered to take the all, if that was what she was planning, and was turned down....thank god.

Anyways, today was the day that Addy came for the afternoon. Jaxon and I started our infant program this morning, and then we went and picked her up when we were done. I had this whole day planned, but for those of you with kinds know you really can not plan a day to a tee. We made our own pizza for lunch, went to the grocery store, went for a walk around the block, after she told me that it was too long of a walk to go to the dollar store...that was what we had to settle for. When we got home we decided that we would watch a movie and then we baked apple dumplings....(oh so good, if anyone wants a good recipe, thanks Carrie for directing me to it). We waited for our dumplings to cook, and then it was time to take her home. We packed up a plate of them for her to take with her, and I took her home.

I am exhausted. I am soooo glad that I only have one to contend with on a daily basis. She is used to having the caos of a baby around, so it really did not even fase her one bit when Jaxon needed my attention, but he was soooo good, which was nice for her. She probably does not get a lot of one on one attention around home....having the twins boys always around, and she probably liked it. I liked it too because I actually had someone to do something with without baby talk involved. It was fun!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Jace

Saturday Jaxon was invited to his first birthday party for his friend Jace...who turned 1 last week. Jaxon really marked the special event by sleeping the whole time he was there, and really took in the celebration. I think that they celebration was more for the big boys, then it was for the the little ones anyways, but fun was had by all.

Saturday was also the first day that Jaxon and daddy spent the day together, without mommy. I went out with the girls for the day, and Jaxon and Curt went and cut down a tree at our friends house. I was really nervous of Curt taking him there with chain saws and falling trees, but all was o.k. I knew it would be, but still. Both made it through the day without me, although I am sure that I was missed (I have to tell myself that), and Jaxon and

I got our fill of snuggles at the party when I got home.

Two Month's

Dear Jaxon,
Well little man, you are two months old and I am not sure where the past 2 months have gone. You definitely are starting to get your own little personality and I absolutely love getting to know everyone thing about you.
This month we saw your first smiles...and many more followed that. It melts my heart every time I get to see you smile...as I am sure soooo many other things will do when you discover how to do them. You are a happy little baby just as long as you are not hungry or tired. After you wake up from a nape you will sit there and just kick up a storm with smiles pasted on your face, that is until you realize that it has been 3 hours and it is time to eat. At first the only people that you would show your smiles to where mommy and gammy and your auntie Cara was really getting disappointed that you had none for her but you know will flash them for just about anyone.
You also had your first sleepover this month. You spent the night at Gammy and Gampa's house on a Friday night so that your mommy and daddy could get a full nights sleep. That was wishful thinking because you probably slept better then mommy did. I was up all night wondering what you were doing, hoping that you were sleeping, and wishing that you would not marking any new milestones on your life without me. You also had your second sleepover at auntie Cara's, but mommy slept much better that night.
You have always been a good sleeper, once we realized that you preferred to sleep on your tummy rather then on your back, usually only waking up once during the night for a feeding. This past week you have decided that you are going to give mom a good stretch of sleep, and you started to sleep though that night. This is something that I really appreciate. I used to be a person that LOVED my sleep, and always wondered what it would be like when I had kids. I soon got used to the sleep deprivation and know it almost tires me out even more to get a full nights sleep. I will soon get back in the grove.
You are a very social little boy. We are always on the go and you do not seem to mind it one bit. That is good because your mommy and daddy live a pretty busy life, and you have adapted to with no problems. You were to your 1st birthday party this past weekend for your friend Jace Meulensteen and you also celebrated your first holiday, Thanksgiving, with the McLaughin and Robinson families, and will be celebrating with the Strachan's this coming weekend.
You are a very spoiled boy as well. My shopping trips used to be all about me, but know I come home from them with stuff for you, and don't seem to buy a darn thing for myself. Your Gammy was shopping in the states this past weekend as well and seemed to come home with more stuff for you then she did for herself I think.
You are loved sooo much by all your family, and you are very lucky to have both sets of grandparent so close to you. They always try to get over to see you if they have not had the chance to in a couple of days, and you love spending time with them.
You are an ever changing boy...always growing. You have outgrown all your newborn cloths, and are in your 3-6 month stuff know. We go to the doctor's on Monday to get your first set of shots, and we will see what you weigh then, but at the beginning of October, with the health nurse, you were 12lbs. I like to call you my little chunky monkey....and I would not trade you in for anything in the world. We love you soooooo much, and never know how much you would complete our lives. We are very lucky to have you.
Love Mommy

First Haircut

the before

Little man had his first haircut today....8 weeks and 2 days old. I have wanted to give it a little trim from about the day he was born, but over the past couple of weeks the back has really turned into a mullet and I know it was time for it to come off. I just trimmed around his ears sothat we did not have to tuck it behind them anymore, and I trimmed the back of it up so that there was not a mullet any longer. The next time I might have to trim the back up even more. I might have to get the clippers out and give him an actual little man's haircut, as it is still pretty long in the back.

the after

Big Smiles

Jaxon has been showing the odd smile over the past couple of weeks, but this week I have really noticed that he is doing it a lot more. My sister Cara has been getting really upset because the only people that he has been smiling for has been me and my mom, but finally last night he showed his big grin to her.
Monday afternoon we had our McLaughlin Thanksgiving at Curt's mom and dad's place and Jaxon was sitting on the table in his seat showing his Great Grandma Marg, and Grandma Lois how he smiles at his mommy. Just another thing that my little man does that melts my heart. I never know that something so little could pull on the strings of my heart so much....I just love this little guy soooo much!!!!

Photoshoot

Well with daddy's big head this morning, we pulled him out of bed and went to church. Jaxon will be getting baptised in the next month or so, so we thought that we better put a few appearances in before that happens. We met grandma and grandpa McLaughlin there and we made it a family affair. He was a perfect baby though the service, which will make it a whole lot easier to try to take him again.

This afternoon since it was such a beautiful day we decided to head out to a bush and try to take some family pictures of the 3 of us. We went to a bush that we had gone to about 3 years ago to get professional ones done, but this time we were all on our own. We picked up my mom on the way out, so she could be our photographer and we ended up with some pretty good shots.

After we got back my mom and I set up a little spot in the back yard so that we could get some fall pictures of Jaxon by himself. Last year for our wedding my mom had painted an old wheelbarrow that they had we we used that and dug out a box of goodies from the wedding as well, including some burlap and leaves. We gather some pumpkins up from around the neighborhood and set some planted moms around, and this is what we got:

pretty good for amateurs, if I do say so my self.

We have not had any Thanksgiving dinners yet this weekend, as we had one of my families last weekend, and the other not for 2 weeks. We head to the McLaughlin one tomorrow. It will exciting with the two new additions that we have to it this year.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Where does the time go?

Well, my little man will be 8 weeks old on Tuesday, and I have no idea where those 8 weeks have gone. I can not remember what life was like before he came into it, although I did get a little taste of what it used to be like last night when he went to my mom and dad's for his first sleepover. It was still not the same though, because all I could do was think about him...what he was doing, hopping that he was sleeping for them, and wondering if he was hitting any new milestones without me. I would have never thought that life would come to this!!!

Anyways, Jaxon is the sweetest little thing that you could ever imagine. He is pretty much the perfect baby. He just eats and sleeps, but I am finding that he is starting to be awake a lot more during the days know. He will have a day where is his awake for a pretty good portion of it but then he will have 2 days where is sleeps all the time, to get caught up. He has stared to really recognize people and if we are lucky we will even get a smile out of him. It just melts my heart when I see him smile. He loves to cuddle with me and I love that time that we get to spend together doing it. I know that some day he will probably not even want to be seen out in public with his old mom so I am going to cherish all the cuddles that we get know.

I am absolutely loving being off on maternity leave. I thought that I might get board not knowing what to fill my days with but that probably will not be the case. The days seem to fly by and when Curt gets home from work I have a hard time believing that they day is gone already and most of the time we have nothing to show of it. We fill our days with going for walks, and taking napes together. The odd day I will lift a dust rage or push the broom across the floor, but most of the time I just like to sit and watch my little man as he changes everyday.

Last week Curt's sister Trisha had her baby, another baby boy. That will be nice for Jaxon to have a cousin that is only 6.5 weeks different in age. It is also nice for me, because we will be off together and we already have things planned to do together with the boys.

Yesterday we went out for our first real family day. We took Jaxon to Naumans Pumpkin Patch to get some pictures of him, and also to pick out or pumpkins to carve. We decided that we will try to make this an annual outing as it was a lot of fun. I had never been to an actual pumpkin patch to pick out my pumpkin and decided that this was something that I wanted to raise my kinds going. They had so many other things to do there and it will be a lot more fun to take Jaxon to when he gets a little older.

Anyways, I have been bad at posting since Jaxon arrived, and I thought that I would be really good and try to get something on here on a daily basis. I can only say that I will try to get better as Jaxon gets older and has more stuff going on his life.

Jaxon's new cousin - Reed Kenneth Lloyd

Reed Kenneth Lloyd Fischer

born: October 4, 2008

8lbs. 5oz.

Jaxon with his new cousin Reed, his aunty Trish and mommy too.

Jaxon - 1 month old......

Introducing.......

Jaxon Curtis Lloyd McLaughlin

born: August 19, 2008 @ 10:35a.m.

weight: 9lbs.

Last Ultrasound

Well, yesterday was probably my last ultrasound before this little bundle of joy that I am incubating in my tummy finally decides to show it's face to the world.

I had my ultrasound, and the a Dr. appointment with my Dr. from Stratford right after it.

We got some good shots of Bean this time around, which was a pleasant surprise because they say as they baby gets bigger the harder it is to get a good shot of them.

The ultrasound tech was doing her thing, and taking all of the measurements that she needed to, and when she was taking the abdominal circumference she asked me how many weeks I was. I told her that I was to be 37 on Wednesday, and she oh, that is interesting. Apparently the measurements that she took did not even register on the growth chart, that means it is was measuring after 40 weeks. After she got everything that she needed she took some fun shots for me. The left on is of the baby face on. You can see it's little nose and lips. You can not make out the eyes, but you can see that it looks pretty squished in there. his one hand is over it right eye, and the other is rested on it chin. It's little face looks so chubby. I just can not wait to see what it is going to look like. This is the first picture that we have ever got out of all 8 of my ultrasounds that you can actually see it's features. It totally makes me wish that we would have got a 3D ultrasound so that we would have been able to see it that way, but I could not bring myself to pay the $150+ for one.

The left picture is just of the heart rate. It usually measures any where between 140-160. Yesterday it was right in the middle @ 151. If you go by the old wise tales about the lower heart rate for a boy, and higher for a girl I do not know where we would fit because it is always right in the middle.

The other last one is just of a profile. We usually always get one of these, but this one is really good this time around.

Well, the count down it on, and I just can not wait to meet this little person.

I was joking around with my Dr. after they told me the weight after my ultrasound and told him that I was rethinking this whole natural child birthing experience, especially if the baby decided to stay in there for a couple of more weeks, and it could be more then 10lbs. He thought I was serious, but I had to tell him that I was just joking around, and we would give it a shot, but if it had to work out with a c-section, that would be fine too!!!!

Only 22 more days left, until my due date.....hopefully not that long though!!!!!!!!!!!

The debate of the railing!!!!

Oh, probably about a month ago my dad was over one night and he mentioned to me that he would really like for me to get a railing going up and down our stair case because he thought that if I was ever carrying the baby down the stairs and I lost my footing I would have nothing to grab a hold of.

I thought that it was a good idea, but my only quome with the idea was that we do not have a very wide staircase, and it is hard enough to carry stuff up and down it know, I thought it would just be more of a pain with it there, then it would be helpful.

Anyways, my dad has won out, as he just went ahead and did it. He did not want to have to worry about me and the baby falling down the stairs some day, and Curt coming home and finding us all laid up on the floor at the bottom. It actually looks good, and it does not take up too much space from the width, so again, he was right, and I guess I was wrong.

Thanks dad...you are the best!!!!

The Baby's Room

Here are some before shots of what the room some what looked like before we started with the changes:

And here are the changes, and the almost final product of the Baby's room:

This is the crib. We are still waiting for the change table, as it has been on back order for more then 2 months. The theme of the room is teddy bears, and the bedding is called B is for Bear. It is sooooo cute. I did not think that I wanted a theme in the room, but as soon as I seen it I fell in love with it, and as soon as I felt it (it is sooooo soft) I know that was it!!!!

This is the corner that has the laundry hamper in it, and was have also put all the bathing supplies there. I really like the cute little froggy bathtub that we got. It is soooo cute. This corner is also sporting the bouncy chair that I got the baby for the time being. I am sure it will be down stairs most of the time though.

Here is the glider rocker that we got. I was not going to get one, mostly because I could not find one in the espresso finish that the rest of the room was done in, but Sears just come out with one in the finish so we scooped it up. The quilt on the back of the chair is one that my grandma Robinson made for the baby. She made it and had no idea that the room was being done in teddy bears!

The closet doors both used to have cork on them, but I decided to change it up a little. The cork was all coming off the doors as well, so for the one I re-glued it and kept it and then the other I painted with chalk board paint and bought some chalk so it will be fun for when the baby is a older.

Here are the shelves that are going to be hanging above the change table/dresser (if it ever arrives). We still have one of them that has room on it for stuff like pictures and all that fun stuff.

This is a board that I had got from Creative Memories back at Christmas and I was going to give it as a give. You can change the stuff that you put on it. It is just on there with magnets, and it has a string on it that you can pin stuff to as well. It will fit a 12x12 piece of paper, if you wanted to do a scrap booking page and just place it on there as well. Right know I just have little stuff like verses and some ultrasound pictures on it, along with the name 'Bean' because that is what I have called this baby ever since I found out that I was pregnant. Hopefully when the baby arrives I will be able to keep up to changing the stuff on the board!!!!!

So as I mentioned, the only thing that we need to get is our change table/dresses that has been on back order for over 2 months. Other then that, we are all set for Bean to arrive, and we are just patiently waiting know!!!!!!!

Another long weekend bits the dust.....

Well, this past weekend was the second last one for the summer, and where did it go. Friday night Curt and I laid low and just rented the movie 21. It was one the Curt wanted to go to the show to see, and we did not manage to get there to see it, so ever since it has come out on video 2 weeks ago we have been trying to get it and we finally managed to do so on Friday night. It was a good movie, if anyone is looking for one to rent.

Saturday Curt had a tee off time at the golf course @ 8:30a.m., and my mom and dad had a wedding to go to so my mom come over and we did her hair. While she was there I got her to give me a pedicure....which was great because I was not feeling that well all day, so it kind of lifted my spirits. After Curt and the guys were done with their game of golf they came back to our place and sat in the pool (Curt got a new Montreal Canadien's pool this year, to replace our old one) and played a game of boccie ball around the neighborhood. Most of the guys wives came over as well, and we had a BBQ for dinner. It was a pretty early night because most of the guys had had enough beer in their belly since they teed off at 8:30a.m. and had consumed a few on the course.

Sunday I was feeling a little better, so we headed up to the cottage because Curt' s family was having a family reunion up there for the weekend. The big thing was on the Sunday, so that is what we headed up for. It was not at Curt's families cottage, but up the road at another cottage that someone had rented, so we got all packed up and went down there for the day. It was really great to get up there because Curt's cousin Drew & his daughter Madison were home from Calgary and also Destiny was home, and it was her last weekend, as she flies back this week. We spend the day up there, and headed home around 8:30. There were too many people staying at the cottage, and there was not really that much room for us to spend the night, and with me not feeling the greatest, I thought it would be best if we just went home for the night which I was glad we did because then I got to wake up in my own bed in the morning.

Monday was a work day for me, but it took me until 11 to get my butt out of bed, and then it took me about 5 hours to get what would usually only take me about 2 hours to get done. I would do some work for 30min. and then I would have to take a break and rest. I am soooooo ready for this baby to come so that I can somewhat get my body back to normal, and possible get my energy levels back on track.

We rearranged the dinning room and the living room so that we could accommodate the swing and the cradle a bit better. We know have some more room for when we start to get all those toys that they baby will need. It make me feel a little bit better that is one thing off of our list to do.

We went over to my mom and dads for dinner on Monday night then, and then home to bed.

Another great weekend, but still no baby. Hopefully it will not be too much longer and I will be able to post about the new arrival to our family!!!!!

Strachan Family Pool Party

Each year my Aunt Shirley in Toronto has a family get together. They have a beautiful pool in their back yard, and we all get together for a weekend of relaxation by it. The year it was on the weekend following our holidays and the day turned out the be great. When we were heading to Toronto in the morning we drove through very heavy rain and big black clouds, but they seemed to pass and they day was great.
We usually all spend the night there and make it a weekend thing, but Curt and I decided that since we had not been home all week, because we were on holidays, and we were having friends over for the afternoon the following day, we headed home on the Saturday night. Also because my due date is fastly approaching, we are not going to take our chance to get stuck some where, and me go into labour, although it would be a good place, as I had a nurse praticiner, and an O.N. nurse right there!