Christmas in Canada

This is us by the Ballingall family tree.  Everyone agreed that it was the best Christmas tree we've ever had in 37 years of trees that says a lot.  Jay thinks he had a lot to do with that since it was the first time he took part in the choosing of the tree.  

This is Christmas morning before the presents were opened.  I think we were actually waiting for Liam and Ava to arrive.  I bought Alex's elf outfit at a church bazaar.  Those church ladies really know how to do it.

Alex and His Cousins

These are a few pictures taken over the holidays in Canada at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Alex loves his cousin Liam, especially now that they can sort of play together. Liam is a great cousin. Ava will be lots of fun to play with when she gets a little older, right now she is fun to look at.

Mr. Bumblebee-Halloween

This Halloween Alexander dressed up as a bumblebee.  He had the cutest costume I found on Craig's List.  He wore black tights and the cutest little Striderite shoes.  We went to a Halloween Party at Andrew's house in Liberty Hill with all of the Social Butterflies.  We also went to a party at the library.

We went trick or treating to about a dozen houses in the neighbourhood.  It was actually a good chance for us to meet the neighbours that we didn't know.  Everyone loved Alex's costume.  We got to use Alex's little red wagon he got for his birthday.

ALEXANDER TURNS ONE

For Alex's first birthday we decided to throw a party for all his friends at our house.  It is such a milestone, not only for him, but for all of us and I wanted it to be very memorable.  We had 20 of his 'closest' friends over for lunch and play.  Mom turned the backyard into a huge playground.  We had a bounce house and lots of giant sized blocks borrowed from the community center.  It looked fabulous.  The theme was cars, trucks and things that go.  I made a truck cake but it didn't look so great (tasted awesome) so I had two other back up cakes.  Yes, I was up til midnight every night the week before.  All the kids had an awesome time.  I know they say only have one child over for every year the child is turning, I went a little overboard but is was so worth it-you only turn 1 once.  Alex went full force into his cake and loved the ice cream, but not his hand getting cold.  It took about an hour to open all of his wonderful presents.  Needless to say it was exhausting but soooo much fun to see all of his friends helping to celebrate his special day.

First Baseball Game

Jessica from the Social Butterfly gave us tickets to the Round Rock Express Baseball.  We were a little nervous to take Alex, but figured if he got fussy we would just leave.  We actually tired before him.  He was the hit of the stands.  He was cracking everyone around us up, he totally flirted all night with the lady sitting beside me and had the people behind us in hysterics.  It was a great night until we left for the parking lot and couldn't find the car.  We spent 20 minutes walking up and down aisles looking for the Jetta eventually finding him (just where we left him-imagine that).

And He Talks Too

August is definitely turning out to be an exciting month for all of us.  Alex is definitley walking a lot and everywhere and insisting to do so.  We were at Gymboree the other day and Miss Liz brought out all the balls and Alex yells out, clear as day "BALL".  It was one of those proud mummy moments as all the mums looked at me with such adoration.  He had actually said a few days before but it was so classic for him to say it a such an opportune time.  He is also now playing Pat-a-Cake with me.  It is really amazing to watch his daily (sometime hourly) progress with things.  I can't keep up with everything and worry that I am not stimulating him enough, he just is moving so fast (literally and figuratively).

I Can Walk

Alex took his first real steps today.  Up until now he has been moving a lot but lacked the confidence to do it without holding onto anything.  His crawl never got very fast so I guess he figured walking might be a better option.  He never crawled with all four on the floor either, he crawled with one foot and one knee, almost like the wounded soldier but with his stomach off the floor.  He walked about four steps from his door to me, and I got all excited but of course I didn't have the camera out or even any witnesses.  I was just telling Jay when he got home (about ten minutes later) and Alex started walking again.  He was so proud of himself.  We were all screaming and clapping.  Now I am not sure if I want him to walk.  Jay was an early walker and so were David and Jim.  I myself walked when I was one.  Big changes for Alex!!!

Doidge Park

This is a picture of Alex swimming in the same pool I learned to swim in when I was little.  We lived in a little house just  up the laneway from the pool and would go down there almost every day of the summer.  I remember always thinking it was so deep but to return there this summer as a mum it really seemed shallow.  The lifeguard Kate really took a liking to Alex and he to her.  We loved hanging out there this summer while we visited Canada.  He also got to meet lots of new friends.

Grandma and Auntie Sarah Visit Texas

I got a special present for Mother's day this year.  My mom and sister came to Texas for a week to visit.  It was my mom's second visit and my sister's first.  We did lots of shopping and even got a trip into the Gulf of Mexico or as Sarah calls it the golf.  We were all very confused if she wanted to go golfing or swimming in the ocean.  The week flew by but we did manage to get lots packed into the short time.  My mom had just been diagnosed at that time but still managed an 8 hour shopping marathon at the outlets that even I couldn't manage.  Alex loved all the attention and was a trooper with all the shopping.

Finally an American

Today is the day that I finally became an American citizen.  I am still not 100 percent sure that I made the right choice but its done and its not the kind of thing that can be undone too easily.  I carry three passports now, and I hope they don't take any of them away-if they do the first to go would be the American.  All in all the ceremony was nice but not nearly as nice as the Canadian one I went through in 1994.  There were people from 100 different countries and they would call your country and you would stand.  They called United Kingdom and I stood for that country.  I think Jay was wondering why I didn't stand for Canada, which is not truly my country.  Jay's friend Johnny came and took lots of pictures for us which was very nice.  Poor Alex didn't like the ceremony too much and cried at the top of his lungs the whole time.  Jay had to leave the hall it was so loud and I guess a lot of women were trying to help him but all Alex wanted was me.  One woman was very rude to him and told him the crying was wrecking the whole ceremony.  It was a nice experience and I am glad that everything worked out the way it did.  It was a long 10 year road with many frustrations along the path, but now I am a naturalized American but you can never take the Canadian out of me.  

4 Months

Alex weighed in at Dr. Price's today at 14 pounds 1/4 ounces.  Still in the 5th percentile for weight.  His height was 25 and 3/8 inches which is in the 75th percentile.  They don't really worry too much about his weight as long as the height is in a higher percentile.  He is nursing really well, too well sometimes.  Still barfing up a lot but it doesn't seem to ever bother him.  All my clothes are stained, I need to learn how to do laundry properly.  We have been very busy around town.  We are going to Babytime at the library every other Monday and Ms. Kathleen reads stories.  We went to a Valentine's party at the library yesterday.  A little girl gave Alex a little card which we put in our baby book.  We joined Gymboree and have met some nice babies in the class.  We leave for El Paso in a couple of days to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Meyer for a whole month.  Jay is leaving for Korea on business so we decided to take a little trip ourselves.  We hope to get up to Albuquerque to see our old stomping grounds and introduce Alex to everyone.