QT with XI

Xander is such a happy baby, especially when he first wakes up. He is very chatty and interactive. I love all his sweet little expressions! Here are just a few.

He plays on a quilt in the living room that my Nannie made me. I think that would make her happy. Also I think of my Papa every time we pass a WaWa. That's the name of the most popular gas stations around here. Papa always said WaWa when referring to water. Makes me smile!

Xander's passport photo. He was an angel while we were doing all the paperwork. It should be here in a few weeks.

We bought X a hat so his lil' noggin wouldn't get sunburned. He doesn't seem to mind wearing it & he looks adorable with it on. Elmo was too big, so we went with Cookie Monster for our lil' Milky Monster. I love the last beach shot, he is drooling like crazy these days. He cut his first tooth on 6-26-12, bottom left side.

Loves his giraffee.

Eskimo kisses from Nike.

                                                  Getting much better at belly time.

Sweet lil' monkey.

4 month old check up. 25 inches long. 17.4 lbs. 18 inch head circumference. Healthy boy! Not very happy after his shots though. I know it's necessary, but it makes me so sad when they stick him.

  Does it say something about the size of your dogs when horse flies are constantly trying to bite them? Seriously!

My new Ergobaby carrier for X. Super comfy for Mommy too.

Daddy eating dinner & X eating his fingers.

Poor baby doesn't feel good today after his shots but he still makes my heart melt with his lil' grin.

To be continued....

June Fun

Xander simply amazes me daily. He is growing so fast. I am so blessed to be staying home with him. I cherish every day with this little dude.

Morning time is about my favorite time of day. After X-Man gets his morning milky fix I bring him into our room and he lays in the bed with me and Kevin he just chatters and coo's up a storm. Daddy gives us our morning kisses before he leaves for work.

Some days Daddy gets to work from home. We like that!

Kevin celebrated his 1st Father's Day in style. We enjoyed a day at Long Beach Island, well not so much a day but a short trip to the beach. It was pretty windy and chilly so X wasn't super pumped about the beach. I think he will enjoy it more as he gets bigger. We got a couple good pics though.

This picture is blurry, but it cracks me up. Every night after bath time I make silly faces at Xander in the mirror and he just grins and smiles as big as his cute little cheeks will let him. I'll get Kevin to take some better pictures.

Classic X-Man pose! Those fingers are yummmy!

We made some homemade caramel popcorn balls the other night and Kevin tried to roll the hot carmel a little too soon. More like hot lava! LOL! His dance was the best part. Ever try to get hot carmel off your fingers?

Xander is fascinated with the Bumbo chair. He thinks he is something special sitting up all by himself.

 His teething toy looks like a little beard.

His favorite way to nap during the day. I'm not going to lie, it's my favorite way to nap too!

Sometimes he will even let Kevin get some cuddles.

The dogs love their baby brother, but I am always careful when they are anywhere near Xander. I have a feeling these guys will be great friends as they grow.

One more quick story before I go. Kevin, Xander and I went to lunch at one of the local Italian restaurants, let me rephrase that. Authentic Italian restaurant. Family owned and operated. Anyway we place our order and Poppa comes over and proceeds to kiss Xander all over his head, hands, and feet. Showering him with all kinds of sweet Italian blessings! Then he calls over Mama and daughters to check out the cute bambino. Xander didn't seem to mind the adoration. I didn't especially like a stranger kissing my baby, but when in Rome & they made wonderful calzones! To be continued...

NEWborn, NEW job, NEW home, NEW JERSEY

There seems to be a theme around here. All things NEW! Kevin, Xander, Nike, Gandalf and I have started a new chapter of our lives. Xander is 16 weeks old today and we have been in New Jersey a little over a week. I'm not much of a "blogger" per say but I promised my little sis I would start blogging once we made it to New Jersey. I have a feeling Xander may have some other fans out there too! Also, I think this may be neat to go back and read one day when my little guy is all grown.

I'm going to take another page out of my lil' sisters book and share a few Xism's. Xander does the cutest lil' side to side head action when he is sleepy. He rolls his head from side to side just like Stevie Wonder. When I cradle him in my arms he does this little vulcan death grip thing to my shirt, just in case I decide to lay him down before he is ready. It works too! Xander has an impeccable sense of smell. If he smells something yummy he is ready to eat, immediately if not sooner. So needless to say it's a challenge for me to eat a hot meal these days. He actually did this even while in my belly. He would start kicking at the smell of food. He got into a bad habit while we were staying with my parents. My Dad leaves for work pretty early and has coffee brewing at 4:30 am. X definitely takes after his Daddy. Loves the smell of hot java in the morning. He still likes to get up early and have some milky. I really can't complain though because he has been sleeping around 8 hours or more a night since May 21st. Atta Baby X! He loves dancing to music with Momma, or is that the other way around! The past several weeks he has discovered he likes sucking on his fingers. Most of the time he sucks on his two middle fingers. It's adorable! My little rockstar! Although Grandpa Riggan may suggest that he is saying hook 'em horns. Xander LOVES his feet to be rubbed! He will stop crying mid-stream if you rub his little tootsies. He gets that from me.

Many of you know that Kevin and I were intending to help plant a church in Astoria, New York with a couple from the Church at Brookhills. Well it seems God has different plans. Kevin's job requires him to be within an hour and a half drive from Atlantic City so NYC is out, for now at least. So we find ourselves in the complete opposite of NYC. We are in the township of Little Egg Harbor. Laughable really! It's a cozy little coastal town in desperate need of the gospel. We are just around the corner from an ACTS 29 church called Great Bay Fellowship. We actually walk to church! This church is the complete opposite of what we had in Birmingham, size wise at least. It's like a big small group. Ironically enough the pastors name is Kevin Platt. Our wonderful pastor in Birmingham's name is David Platt. No relation. Our goal is to still make it to NYC, but for now we really feel like God has called us here to serve this hurting community. Only 2% of the population is considered evangelical. The harvest is plentiful. Please pray God uses us in a mighty way.

We are getting settled slowly but surely. We love and miss you all. To be continued...