2 weeks old

So over the last 2 weeks, everyone has settled into a bit more of a routine.  We are far from perfect, but everyone is sleeping more (in shifts if necessary), Anthony is getting to work every day (late still counts as going) and all Doctor appointments have been good.  

Amy rocking the Moby Wrap that Lynnette gave us.....Pretty cool to be hands free.  Speaking of hands, can  you see he's wearing his mittens...?

                                          

Coach Lavaris and Laura have been over a few times and Wil even held Xander.  OMG!  Obviously we had to document the big event...

On Friday, Anthony really wanted to watch the Mariners game and he lasted until the 8th inning and fell asleep with Xander on his belly.  Lynnette and Amy were able to hang out and chat so it wasn't a total lost cause.  Amy recorded the rest of the game just so Anthony and Xander wouldn't miss anything big...

Xander has so many cute outfits that we have tried taking pictures of our favorites so far.....some have been puked on or peed on so the outfit was only worn a short time.  The gator sleeper is very cute.  This particular outfit has seen it's fair share of pre-treating... first time he wore it his cord stump came off and he bled on the outfit... got it all clean, put it on a few days later... same day his scab fell off... more blood, more shouting it out...

We gave him a sponge bath the first week he was home.  This week we gave him a real bath in his tub that Lana and Drew gave us.  It worked pretty well.  Xander hated the bath at the beginning; Anthony shown here trying to shush him to be more calm.

But he seemed to enjoy getting clean near the end.  Good first bath everyone.

The bath towel he uses after a bath is adorable and we had to include the shot.  He's our little blue clean and fresh puppy!

So sleep sacks seem to be a relatively new invention because Anthony didn't know about them.  The cool thing is there aren't any buttons or snaps to deal with at 3am... or any other time for that matter.  And Amy likes to turn up the bottom to keep his arms swaddled while she works... so multipurpose! 

On Father's Day at brunch at Grandma Benezra's house (Name still TBD, Gigi anyone?) Selena decided to hold and stare at Xander for about an hour.  She still hasn't stolen the baby yet, but we always have the 50's on speed dial and ready just in case.

Future All-star one-sie with grey pants and socks....simple but freaking cute....baby clothes are cute because they are so small, but also because it is fun dressing him.  Plus, we've had this onesie for years waiting for the perfect baby to come along... and here he is!

Another Lynnette gift (one of the first two outfits Xander received while still in the womb).  Most of Xander's socks are just still too big as you can see from the picture.  

Another sleeper.  This one has footies, but complete with zipper instead of buttons or snaps... we like!

So Mute seems to be warming up some to Xander.  Seen here, both are sleeping but Mute is resting her foot gently on Xander's dome.  This was very funny.  

Such a small and quiet boy in this picture.....if he only never cried, how cool would that be?  Thanks to Sommer's mom Debbie for this cute safari sleeper!

We can't believe our little guy is 2 weeks old already!  We find the screaming fits a bit challenging to deal with at times, but we couldn't be more happy or in love with Xander Jax!  

AB^2 + 2c + X = Family

On June 5th, 2011 at 7:42 am, we welcomed a new member to our family; Xander Jax Benezra.  Xander weighed in at 7lb 9oz and measured 20.75" in length.  Amy's water broke at 4:24am on Saturday 06/04/11 and we went to the hospital 2 hours later.  After we were admitted, Amy was put on Pitocin to start up her contractions.  After a very long day and night (27+ hours from when the water broke), an epidural, a scare of maybe having to have a C-section and not having our OBGYN at the hospital because he wasn't on call, Xander finally burst into the world.  We stayed at the hospital for a day and a half after the birth to recover, learn and rest up and then went home.  Mute and Sark both sniffed Xander when we first got home and they are very friendly and curious.  They aren't thrilled with all of the noise and commotion, but are learning to cope with it like we are.  

Our family is all getting used to being together at home.  We are all learning new things and the post partum process is getting better each day.  He is so cute especially when he is awake and not crying....but even when he cries, he looks handsome doing it. 

He is so little.  He makes the kitties feel heavy.  

He is a huge fan of being swaddled as he gets overstimulated because he is always playing with his best friends....his hands.  He is quite strong.  He gets his hands out of the swaddle blankets all the time and he has strong legs.  He has turned over already a couple of times too.  

Sark has really been cute with Xander.  He comes close, sits next to him, sniffs him and watches him.  He is protecting his human brother.  

Close up of awake time last night in his sleep sack.  

We love the sleep sack because the hands get covered so we don't have to use mittens.  

Our adorable son loves being in this world and we feel very lucky to have a healthy and beautiful baby.  We have spent most of our time at home since the birth besides the wellness check up on Wednesday for the Mom and Son.  Today, Xander peed on dad for the first time during a diaper change and we expect a lot of firsts over these first days and will keep you posted to as many of them as possible.

Tomorrow (Sunday) is the Bris/Baby Naming.  See you there.....

Keep your damn trap shut...

For those of you out there in the world that believe that the mere sight of a pregnant woman somehow grants you permission to say anything you can think of to that pregnant woman... keep your damn trap shut.

Do I want your advice?

No.

Do I want you to make a comment on my size?

No.

Do you bother to think before you open your mouth and say something extremely offensive to a woman in a most likely emotional state?

No.

Is ok to touch the belly of a perfect stranger merely because that stranger is pregnant?

No.

So to all of you a-holes out there that I've been putting up with for the last nine months, here are some words of advice.  Keep your hands and your words and your looks and your stares and your laughter and your questions to your damn self.

And to the woman I encountered today, here are two versions of what happened earlier... the first is what actually happened, the second is what you should be glad didn't happen because I was in a relatively calm mood at the time and you lucked the eff out:

Version 1 - what really happened
"So, are you due soon?"  (FYI - this is typically an offensive question to ask because how would you like it when someone asks you something like, "Oh you must be due any day huh?"  And it's January, and you are due in effing June.  Hey, lady, go eff yourself.)

"Yep.  Tomorrow" (Being able to respond in this way makes me feel a little better, you know, cuz it's not January, it's actually June...)

"Oh.  Is there just one baby in there?"  (Seriously?  Did you just ask me that?  What the hell is wrong with you and how do you not realize the enormous potential your last question has for being extremely offensive.  You work at Whole Foods, it's your job to be nice to me, in fact you are currently earning a living to do so and you are totally effing up your only job in the WHOLE WORLD right now!)

"Yep" (Stupid Bitch)

"Oh, well, congratulations"

"Thanks"

End Scene

Version 2 - What could have happened, but luckily for Stupid Bitch, Version 1 actually happened...

"So are you due soon?"

"Yep.  Tomorrow"

"Oh.  Is there just one baby in there?"

"Wait, let me ask you a question first... how many teeth did you come to work with today?"

"Ummm.... huh?"

"I'm asking if you know how many teeth you came to work with today because I'm wondering if you want to leave with the same amount of teeth in your mouth tonight as you had this morning... because if you do, you should keep your damn trap shut so people like me don't come along and knock your effing teeth out your effing face.  Savvy?"

"... [pregnant pause]... Thanks for coming to Whole Foods."

"Eff you very much"

Mother's Day & Amy's 30th Birthday

On Mother's Day we celebrated with the Friedman's and Benezra's at Goldberg's Deli in Factoria.  

The following weekend, the Brelsford's came over to Kirkland so we could jointly celebrate Mother's Day with Lynn and Amy's Birthday.  We made a salmon dinner and the kitties also got a bonus treat meal of salmon too.  See Muters has a bit of a dandruff problem, so at her recent check up we asked the doc about it.  He said we should give her a slice of bacon from time to time... and upon further explanation we determined that she just needs a little extra protein and fat in her diet here and there.  So when we have salmon or fresh fish Amy skins/filets/trims the fish and gives kitties the scraps/bloodline portions and they effing love that stuff!  It's helping with the dandruff too!  Seen below, the kitties are sharing a plate, like the old days when they were teeny tiny, and that's their new placemat with fishies on it, so cute and really helps keep the floor clean... they are hella messy eaters!

Amy made nice presentations of the presents for the Grandmas and Mom's.  We had maternity pictures taken recently and gave each Grandma and Mom some enlargements of our favorite photos.  

Our cats happen to like cheap and unintentional toys.  Straws, strings, and the like.  Their unintentional play item... recyclable cloth grocery bags.  Both cats took turns resting in the bag that Lynn had brought over.  

Is this adorable or what?  Above, Sark is actually being chill enough to let Lynn near him... the kid is really coming around!  Below, Muters had to have her turn too!

Pregnant (super duper pregnant) lady with her mom. 

Happy #30 Ames!

Meet Vivian, the Volvo XC60...

Well a long time ago, it was decided that Amy's Toyota pick up truck would not work as a "family car."  So research began in the middle of 2010 along with our search for a new vehicle.  All SUV's were considered and it was narrowed down via Al Gore's internet to a select few models.  Then things got pushed off because we were told the best time to buy a car was the last week of the year.  So, we'd decided on what to buy and were getting the best deal around, but the catch was there were no models available... anywhere in the state... So, we elected to order our car direct from the factory, which was nice because that way we could get exactly what we wanted.  The only drawback...?  We had to wait 3 months for the car to arrive.  3 months came and went and one Sunday evening we got a voicemail from Volvo.  "Hi Anthony, we need to talk about your car, please call me back."  Now that is a sentence than when you hear it, you know something bad happened.  Upon calling the sales lady back, we were told that there was a bit of damage that took place during shipping.  

How bad is the damage?  Are we talking about a scratch you are gonna buff out, or something more serious here?  Well...

The pictures aren't quite as descriptive as they could be... the damage was bad, such a shame really.  Apparently the Swedes loaded an S70 and our XC60 onto a container ship butt to butt, as we assume they normally do... except this time "items may have shifted in route" and our beautiful cars rubbed against each other the whole trip to the states.  The damage was supposed to be "minimal" (the entire back window was destroyed, back fender mangled, glass all over the place, scratches and more...) and "easily repaired" (the entire back hatch/door would have to be swapped out).  But who wants a "new" car that has had damage repaired?  Not us, screw that.  

We were told we had two options, a) accept this vehicle as soon as it's repaired or b) order another new vehicle from the factory... again... and wait 3 months... again... Three more months would have taken us past our baby due date and we weren't entirely comfortable with that, so we told them we'd take option c) (even tho they didn't offer this option)... "How about you call every Volvo dealership in the Nation, or perhaps your regional representative, tell them to run a search for the exact model and specs of our car and find a new one that has yet to be purchased, ship that car here for free, and we'll take that one..." They agreed to give that a try and get us a car "as close as possible" to which we replied, "let us be clear, this car will be EXACTLY as we originally ordered, the only difference?  The VIN number..." And within a much more reasonable amount of time than originally quoted, they were able to deliver on our request.   

By the way, in case you want to buy a Volvo XC60, here is the VIN # so you can avoid the busted one that you just saw.   As it turns out, the Volvo we ended up with was made on the same production line and shipped out with our car... it just happened to be destined for the Baltimore Port to go to Minneapolis Volvo... so once the car hit land, they sent it here to Bellevue.  

   

Finally she arrived and we were able to take her home where she joined Iggy the Infinity M35 in the garage.  Sadly we did also have to part with Blu, Amy's 1996 Paradise Blue Toyota Tacoma... but this is Amy's first NEW car and she has enjoyed it for the 6 weeks or so that she has been able to drive her.  She has that new car smell, but unlike most new cars, Amy actually likes the smell of this one.  Amy named her Vivian and calls her Viv for short, unless Viv gets angry... that's when Vixen comes out to play...  hehehe...