Our family’s home on the web
Today I tried to get a few pictures of Alexandra holding her brother. John was not really into it; he started to fuss and Alexandra tried to quiet him down. It was so cute, I just has to switch my camera to video mode 
John Theodore James was born at 6:32pm on August 29, 2008 after 40 weeks and 6 days of gestating. He weighs 7 pounds, 6 ounces and is 20.5 inches long, though Tony swears he’s 21 inches. He has a head full of hair and is a very calm and mellow little boy (well, so far). He looks just like his big sister Alexandra, they could be twins born two years apart. And the coolest part of all… he was born on Michael Jackson’s 50th birthday
John’s (JT? Theo? What do you think?) birth was very fast. I once again had a natural water birth (though we barely made it into the tub) at the Allen Birthing Center. And yes, that is the same tub Alexandra was born in. Once again, I didn’t get to birth in the big tub. As Tony and I have retold the story a few times now, it sounds like something you’d see on TV or in a movie. Just as I did with Alexandra, I will write out a full birth story as soon as I can. Some possible titles of the story are “How I almost gave birth in a Dodge Truck during rush hour” or “How to go from napping on the couch to holding your baby in just one hour.”
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These pictures have been sitting on my computer for weeks, and I never got around to posting them. Here are some shots of Alexandra from this summer…
Having fun at the pool
When she doesn’t want to get in bed to take a nap, she ends up falling asleep in her armchair.
Blowing bubbles with Grandma
“Um, I’m trying to eat, Mom”
“Mmmm, Cheerios.”
Who says you can’t go to the park at night?
I’m sneaking one in of myself. This was 13 days before John was born. I was certain I was going to go into labor that night. Yeah, right.
Tony and Alexandra building a fort in her room. This is their favorite thing to do together.
It’s pretty much exactly the same as it was when Alexandra slept here, but I thought I’d post some updated pictures anyway. I am so happy that I will be getting a second usage out of this room, I just love it. And if you has the misfortune of seeing what this room looked like before we renovated it (I can’t believe I didn’t take any pictures!) you would be amazed at how it looks now.
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On July 13, my good friends Lia and Shakiesha held a baby shower for me. With this being my second baby (in only 2 years) I really wasn’t expecting one, but they did a great job and I felt really special. I think everyone enjoyed themselves- the food was great, we played some cute games and the cake was awesome. And I was surprised to get so many lovely gifts. Thank you to everyone who came and celebrated our baby boy.
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I didn’t take monthly belly shots this time around, because I pretty much look exactly the way I did when I was pregnant with Alexandra. But I did decide to get some professional maternity portraits taken. I had these done at 33.5 weeks. Please forgive the quality, they are scans and my scanner isn’t great.
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Yes, yes, I realize that Alexandra is almost 2 years old now. I am not a complete slacker, I did a traditional paper scrapbook for her this time last year. But, once I learned how to Digi-Scrap, I quickly realized that my paper version kinda sucked. And with Baby Boy on the way, I figured I needed to get her First Year scrapbook done so that I can focus on his. I finished it just today and I am very proud of my latest creation. I’ll be off to Costco tomorrow to print the pages and put them in her photo album.
Alexandra got to do two Easter Egg hunts this year. The first was with the DFW Moms playgroup. She’d never hunted for eggs before, and it took her awhile to realize that she could collect more than two (one for the right hand, and one for the left). After she got the hang of it, she filled her basket. Then the next day, Aunt Shawna held an egg hunt at her house. By this time Alexandra knew exactly what to do. She even realized there was chocolate in the eggs!
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We had a second sonogram right at 18 weeks. All three of us were present for it, and we were able to get a really good look at the baby. We heard the heartbeat, saw all the body parts and saw lots of movement. We also learned that our newest family member is a BOY!
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Here’s a collection of candid shots of Alexandra over the last few months, ages 15-18 months. We got a little snow in early March, and it was Alexandra’s first time playing in it. It wasn’t much, but we make a big deal over every snowflake here in Texas.
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