11 months.

Jax turned 11 months yesterday. Wow--time really does fly. Bryan and I have really enjoyed the last couple months as Jax grows into his own personality. He is so funny and loves to laugh and play games. Some games are no good like when he thinks its funny to throw his food on the kitchen floor; but other games are great--like when he wants to play catch across the coffee table with any kind of toy. Or when he thinks he's being chased...he starts walking pretty fast and laughs way before we catch him. or peek-a-boo or high five! He is such a joy and really so much fun. We are so glad our first has been such a wonderful experience and we really do look forward to having more soon. We'll see what God has in store!
We do have another addition to the family...and no I'm not pregnant. We recently agreed to have an international missionary stay with us until the end of April. Her name is Jilly and she is from Ireland. So far we really don't see her all that much because the group she is here with have so many activities and ministries planned every day. I hope she's getting enough sleep! The stories she tells are quite amazing and her heart is so full of love for those the rest of us would probably want nothing to do with. This experience has definitely challenged me to seek the Lord deeper to desire that kind of love. I don't think I love people the way I should. And I certainly don't shower God's love on to others that need it most. Its so easy to get settled into our comfortable lives and go about our busy schedules. I need to pay more attention to what God is doing around me and look for more opportunities to be a light of God's love.
Anyways--I have no pictures of her because she is never around..but I'll try to get one of her this weekend...Jax is really having fun with his new friend. Its funny to see him with her in the morning...not quite sure who this new person is but she is here every morning watching him eat breakfast.

So to sum up for this month...
-Jaxon is getting way more comfortable walking and really never crawls anymore. He's getting fast which makes him a little more clumsy so now he is bumping his head and nose way too much. Last week we had 2 bloody noses. The poor thing.
-He eats like a champ and I am trying to venture into new foods...but I just can't stand the mess. Yesterday I let him eat tortellinis with sauce and that was a disaster. I know I need to let him do it--but maybe I'll wait till he stops rubbing his hands in his hair. He loves pears and peaches and cheese sandwiches and yogurt and spinach ravioli and mango and everything else. -Still no teeth
-cries around dogs and cats
-is scared of balloons and inflatable things; balls, bats, etc. I guess he won't be too interested in sports. I tried to get him to play basketball with his cousin but he was scared and kept running away from the basketball
-Loves to dance and sing and he loves to play on the piano.
-crawls all the way up the stairs and the other day he even went down one stair backwards. He actually stopped at the top, sat down and crawled down. I was so impressed he knew to do that!

That's pretty much it. I am so excited for his birthday coming up! It will be on Easter this year so I'll have the party on a different day but I can't wait to see him more excited about his presents than he was at Christmas. Our little baby is growing up and becoming his own little person...only 4 weeks till I have a 1 year old. Ahh!

10 months old.

Poor thing...he had a very bad fall.

Tomorrow Jax will be 10 months old. That means I only have 2 months to plan his 1st birthday party...am I a bad mommy if I have not even started thinking about it??

It has been so fun these last couple of months to watch Jax grow and see his little personality coming out. He is generally a very happy and joyful baby but lately he has decided he likes to squeal very loudly when he does not get his way. He has learned what No means, but he thinks its a game to keep doing what I asked him not to do. And when his toys don't seem to do what he wants them to he gets really frustrated and throws the toy around and starts screaming at it. I know its very frustrating for him, but it makes me laugh to watch him get so worked up. I can hardly believe and am so amazed at how much he's changed and how much he is learning!
Here are 10 of my favorite things about Jax:
1. When I say "Give mommy kisses", he leans in. awe--just melts my heart.
2. He likes to play Peek-a-boo with a blanket or clothes by himself and covers his head and starts laughing at himself.
3. He has learned to give "High 5" and actually slaps my hand when I ask
4. He loves his naps and for the most part falls asleep on his own.
5. He laughs so hard when I chase him around the house. He thinks it the most fun game in the world. He starts getting excited before I start chasing after him....if I hide it makes it even better!
6. When he hears his daddy come home he stops whatever he is doing and follows his voice to go find him....just precious.
7. We sit at the piano together and he loves to play and sing all by himself...he does not like it when I try to play along!
8. For the most part he keeps himself entertained with his toys...which lets me get some work done around the house.
9. Sometimes throughout the day he'll crawl over just to give me hugs, then he'll go back to playing...he is such a sweet boy.
10. I love his laugh!!

9 months and counting.

Playing in the snow.

Mommy's attempt at being a photographer....

With the cousins in our Christmas pj's...thanks Nana Shanny.

This is what I do when I laugh!

I love to look outside and talk to all the trees.

Standing up all by myself!

Okay, so I realize it has been forever since my last post and I apologize. Its mostly because I have not been able to load my Christmas pictures and I have been waiting for that so I could post Jaxon's 1st Christmas. However, I still can't get them loaded, so I will just update you on all that's been going on and when I get the Christmas pics then I'll just load them separately. We had a wonderful time with family and friends over the holidays and we really look forward to next year when Jax will be more excited about opening his presents. This year I opened most of his gifts, which was a whole lot for the little guy. He got lots of toys, which he loves, especially the ones he can push around and that make noise--he is dancing to the music, which is absolutely hilarious! Thank you to everyone for your sweet gifts and for showering him with your love!
Jaxon turned 9 months old on January 4th and I cannot believe I have a 9th month old. I know I say that every month...but its true. I kept thinking he was only 8 months, but no, he is indeed 9 months. We had his check up this morning and he is a whopping 29 inches tall and only weighs 19lbs. I thought he'd be well over 20 lbs by now. The Dr was not concerned though because he has been moving all over the place for the last 2 months that he is just burning through too many calories. She informed me that I should add butter and sour cream to his potatoes to bring in more fatty calories. She also told me to add more protein to his diet, so I'll start boiling more eggs and cutting up some turkey and giving him refried beans. Hopefully he likes this new addition. Shouldn't be too hard considering he eats nearly everything I give him...he did, however, spit out the avocado I tried to feed him yesterday.
Now for the big announcement.....Jax took 2 steps all by himself today!! I was so proud of him but of course did not catch it on film. Hopefully he'll do it again and I'll have my camera ready. I have a video of him pushing his walker around so you can enjoy that for now. Below is a list of his activities and achievements:
-sleeps from 8 pm till 7:30am
-takes 2 naps
-eats 3 meals a day and takes a bottle 4 times
-eats bite-size carrots, peas, apples, bananas, sweet potatoes---so glad I don't have to puree everything anymore. Some days he won't eat unless he can feed himself...he is getting so darn independent!
-has no teeth
-crawls all over the house (we recently put up a cage around the living room so he can't get to the stairs)
-speaking of stairs - he has crawled/climbed up the entire staircase. when he gets older, I'll teach him how to get down so he doesn't fall
-walks (cruises) around the furniture
-walks by himself with anything that has wheels (trucks, walker, etc)
-gets really excited when his daddy comes home
-LOVES kids...he laughs and talks to them all the time
-babbles all the time but does not say "mama" or "dada"
-loves banging his hands like he's playing the drums...just like daddy.
-laughs at everything and now throws his head back when he laughs-its hilarious! (shown is pic above)
-has learned how to use his sippy cup

Okay-I think that's about all for now. He is growing and healthy and wonderful and I couldn't ask for a better child. We just love and adore him so much.

Almost 8 months.

7 Months and more.

Jax is climbing on everything. He especially loves the fireplace.

My cute little Dragon

This is what Jax does all the time...not sure what this is suppose to mean??!

Jax crawling.

I finally figured out how to post a video!! Yeah. So here is Jax crawling - its from a few weeks ago--I know its still just slow moving--but he is really starting to get all around the house. I now must keep my floors vacuumed and swept every day. Not like I didn't clean before, but now, its just more often.
Also--below are some pictures from the last few weeks.

6 months.

This morning my 6 month old climbed out of his Bumbo chair. I was not aware that was even possible. Luckily, it was on the floor in my bathroom while I was in the shower because sometimes I leave him up on the counter so he can look in the mirror. The funny part was that he was trying to climb back in but obviously could not quite figure it out. I guess he will no longer be using his handy dandy bumbo chair.

I was trying to post a video but it would never load so I'll try to shoot a shorter film this afternoon of Jax crawling. That's right - I said crawling. For the past month Jax has been up on all fours exploring this new strength. He has been rocking back and forth and scooting backwards and just this week he finally started using his arms and legs together to propel himself forward. He still uses his stomach occasionally but for the most part he is using his arms and legs. I used his pacifier to lure him at first but again this morning after the bumbo chair incident I put him out in my room while I was finishing getting ready. We played "Follow my Voice" and sure enough he made it to the door and into the bathroom. I can no longer leave him in a room for a short period of time because he is getting into everything. He loves chewing on shoes, books, diapers and now his play mat (as you will see in the picture below).

Jaxon eats everything. He loves carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, pears, green beans, and squash. I've been making my own food as much as I can, but sometimes the fruit is not so great - so I buy the Gerber stuff. I thought it would be a hassle and take up a lot of time to cook my own baby food, but I have discovered that the crockpot is a great way to cook the carrots and apples and then I use my Magic Bullet to puree them. It also makes it easy to puree the peas and other steamed veggies! I have never really used the Bullet before because I didn't see much need for it, but it has been wonderful and super easy to clean! This week I am introducing berries and its just too difficult to get all the seeds out so I bought the Gerber fruit mixes and he loved the strawberry banana this morning. I figured I should start him on other fruits besides just apples and bananas. I'm sure he's sick of them by now.

Here are some of the latest pics...

My First Biscuit (very messy)

Grandma and Grandpa Shanafelt came to visit.

Thanks Uncle Jason for letting me borrow your hat!

I love to eat everything!