a name and a blessing

The last week of March Xander was blessed in our ward by James. He was given the name Alexander Gordon Quigley. I was reading back in my journal the other day and in September I had written that we liked that name. I can't remember at all how we came up with Xander, maybe I heard it somewhere (I use to text James' names whenever I heard them at gymnastics or swim lessons of the kids I nannied, in books, or at the grocery store). We thought Xander was cool and James likes that the name is long enough that when Xander's old enough if he wants to go by Alex or even Alexander he can (I hope that he'll always be called Xander!). When we found our we were pregnant I told James if our baby was a boy I wanted his middle name to be Gordon. All of the boys in our family have family names that are also prophet names and the name Gordon fit: after of course President Gordon B. Hinkley and it's also my dad's middle name.

Bruce Gordon and Alexander Gordon (one day old)

our beloved Prophet (he feels like a grandfather to us)

one of the all time best pictures of little Xander

outfit: Dressed in White booties: made by Janean Carter

we have a 3 month old

3 months old

smiling at Grandma Karen

big brother Aidan picked out his outfit

I knew it would go by fast, but this is ridiculous. Time has sped up and I'm not sure if I like it. But, I do love having a 3 month old. I love when Xander was brand new, he was so little and precious and fell asleep on me every time I held him...but, it was a lot of work. These days life are still hard at times, but I think we are getting the hang of things. I felt that by 12 weeks we finally getting a hang of it (I didn't expect it to take that long). I feel so blessed for every day and I try to cherish these times because he is growing up so fast.

Here is what our 3 month old is up to:

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  Xander sleeps at least 8 hours at night and numerous 1-3 hour naps through the day


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  He is pretty good at nursing, it has been a LONG, hard road, but he is a trooper and each day we (both) get better at it


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  He loves to suck on his fingers, fists, arms, anything he can find


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  He takes naps in the swing (but our blessed swing broke and this week his nap time have struggled a bit)


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  He falls to sleep for the night on his own, I think it's smart how he knows it's night and time for a longer sleep (he might be a genius!)


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  He has thrush, and has for months, we can't get rid of it


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  He has a darling dimple on his left cheek, his smile is too die for, sometimes when he smiles he even does this cute shy look where he puts his head down


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  He knows his brothers and loves the attention he gets from them, they adore him


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  Xander-mander has to wear a swaddle in his car seat or he'll cry the whole time, very occasionally he can go a short distance without freaking out, he also wears the swaddle to sleep


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  He has a pretty consistent eat, play, sleep daily routine


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  He takes a bottle and always has, but that allows us to have a babysitter every week and that is AMAZING (we love our date night)


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  Now the gross stuff, he spits up a lot and it's nasty and he only poops every couple days and it is usually a big deal and requires all that he is wearing to soak in the sink


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  Xander spends his day getting loved, kissed, and adored...we all love this special little guy

smiles

After weeks of Xander just staring at us we finally got some smiles:

smiling at Dad

Wow! And his smiles make it all worth it. Xander's smiles are DARLING, they brighten our home. We are so happy to have the little man in our family.

2 years

2 years ago today we were married. It feels longer, not in a bad way, but it feels like we've always been together sort of way. Lindsay asked me if it's been what I thought it would be like and my answer is that it has been better. Cheese. There was the initial getting used to living with someone and learning how to be a partner, but those really weren't even hard lessons to learn. Being married is different than being single, obviously. I love this not-so-new life of mine. I picked a fabulous person to be married to. James is perfect for me! He is very patient and gentle with me and my weaknesses. He is humble with his own. He teaches me daily about serving, loving and becoming a better person. He is the best cheerleader a girl can have. Having a happy, successful marriage is extremely important to him and he is willing to do what it takes, even the hard stuff. Before I was married I worried some about being a good wife, I knew a little about being a mom, but as for a wife that was super new to me. I am proud to say that I am a great wife, it suits me. Being married to James is one thing I know for sure I was meant to do in this life. It is my passion. I love to make him happy and love to be on the receiving end of his love. Life is wonderful. I am so blessed.

big brothers

Xander has the best big brothers! Greyson and Aidan love our little guy so much, it is neat to watch them interact with him. They love to hold and kiss him. They are so helpful and great to have around. Baby Xander is so blessed to have them for brothers!

2.5 weeks old

Our little X-man...he is doing great. We all are wonderful, we are pretty adjusted to our new life together. Sleeping has never been one of my talents so luckily I can survive on little. James and I share nighttime feeding in order for us each to get 4-5 hours in a row (I have such an amazing partner, but I'll share more about Xander's daddy another time). Here are some fun facts about our little 2 wk. old:

• He eats about every 3 hours. And therefore gained his birth weight before one week old. He is a little over 7lbs. now...he's getting so big.
• He is a champion pee-er and poop-er. TMI, but it's true, like it's his job. He doesn't usually pee when we change him, he's too busy screaming at us. He does not like getting his diaper changed.
• He loves baths with his dad. He relaxes and floats around with James holding onto him. He loves the water on his face.
• He takes a binky, but he prefers his hands. He's getting good at putting them in his mouth, but I don't think he'll be a finger sucker for real. He just likes to find them and suck on them for a few seconds at a time.
• He sleeps a lot. He sleeps anywhere: at night in his cradle next to our bed, in the swing, in his car seat, in our arms and his favorite on our chests (which is our favorite too). Most of the time it is hard to wake him up to eat so we change his diaper to get him mad at us. That works sometimes.
• He is pretty congested right now, especially at night. He seems uncomfortable, I hate it. I don't like my little guy being sad. It makes me sad.
• Xander pretty much has a sweet life, even if he doesn't know it yet (although I think he knows). We love him SO much and feel so blessed to have him in our family. I am so glad he came early so we can have extra time with him.

Sometimes he gives us smiles, I think he dreams of his mommy and of course that brings a smile to his face. Last night he looked like Robinhood when he went to bed so we had a photo shoot, he is too cute to pass up (even if it was 1am). He slept though the whole thing and slept until his daddy woke him up at 3am to feed him. What a good baby.

he's here!

Alexander Gordon Quigley

6lbs. 11oz. 18 3/4inches long

born @ 9:10pm

1-1-11

(baby Xander just 2 hours old)

He made it down to earth, apparently couldn't wait another few weeks. He needed to come on New Years Day and we couldn't be happier! After 2 extra days in the hospital due to a little jaundice we were all able to come home on Wednesday Jan. 5th. We love our sweet baby boy. He is wonderful: easy going, sleepy, a good eater, tiny, happy...pretty much perfect. We are so addicted to this little man. Life is good. We are so blessed.