Fan Fest 2012

Fan Fest 2012 was this last weekend.  It was cold and windy out but at least it wasn't raining.  A view of the King's Court from the right field foul pole as we were waiting in line for autographs.

The crew at Safeco really decked out this section.

This year the players who were there for the Season Ticket Holder special time slot were newly acquired Cather/DH Jesus Montero and LF/1B Mike Carp.  While Anthony was in line outside, Amy hung out inside by the players.  One of the staff members who stands with the players got an autographed picture of  Jesus Montero and came by and gave it to Amy for Xander.  It was very cool of them.  So an autographed ball from each player and an autographed picture from each player later and then we walked thru the stadium.  

The new Dave Niehaus tribute statue is in Center Field.  It is a big area and is surrounded by Dave's slogan calls like: "Swung on and Belted", "Fly Fly Away", and "Get out the Rye Bread and Mustard."

On top of everything, the Mariners always sell autographed balls from former players.  They had a Doug Fister ball at $75 which is just ridiculous.  The best deal was $15 for an Erik Bedard ball.  Anthony loves him some Bedard so we scooped that up quickly and kept going.  Anthony sure loves autographed balls.  Anyways, 13 days until Pitchers and Catchers report to Spring Training.  The season is just around the corner.  Go M's!

boy in a box

... ok, more like a basket... but let's move on...

Xander has a good sized basket of toys.  He loves playing with them and taking them out of the basket, but ultimately his mobility is still limited and the toys end up too far away.  So, Mama had a brilliant idea!

Step One:  Empty the toys out of the basket

Step Two:  Put the boy in the basket

Step Three:  Let him play in the basket

And that's the way we do it!  It's a boy in a box!

Xander's First Snow!

We got snow on Saturday the 14th - it was enough to look cool coming down and stick for a while but not to do any serious damage.  Xander really enjoyed looking out the window, watching the snowflakes fall, and how bright and clean everything looked outside.

The next morning we woke to more snow on the ground, and even more falling throughout the day.  We decided to let Xander brave the elements (with ample layers) for a little while so he could feel snow fall on his handsome little face and take it all in.  He loved the snow experience!

Hahaha!  I love the snow!  Hehe!

Our neighbor made a snowman.  Xander was checking it out.  In defense of the snowman, it looked better before it snowed on top of the hat, eye, carrot nose and scarf you can sorta kinda see here.

Man, Xander sure looks a lot like his handsome Dada!  Glad you enjoyed the snow, Big Guy!

Crazy Moon

On (what we believe was) the evening of the first full moon of 2012, Amy just had to get some photos of how cool it all looked.  Usually the full moon is worth looking at, but obstructed by clouds, or simply the only thing you can see above.  On this night, however, the cloud pattern made for quite an interesting moon watching opportunity.  After a little practice with the camera, we got some pretty awesome shots!  Enjoy!

7 months!

Whoa baby, this baby is growin'!

This is how I flirt with the ladies...

Oh hi, Muters!  Come here, I'll pet you!  (Yeah right, says Mute, I know that "pet" means "pull my fur"... keep working on it and we'll talk)

Is it nap time?  Just lay down time?  Ugg, more photos!?

Hey, isn't this how the supermodels do it?  Strike a pose!

Would you say this look is more Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren?

Yeesh!  I almost rolled off the couch!  False alarm, I didn't fall, Mama protects the ish out of me.  Good thing cuz I'm freakin' crazy.  (Mostly just not in control of my faculties)

Mama!  I said NO MORE!!

Ok, twist my arm, I'll pose for a little longer.

Major poser!

Phew, I'm exhausted.  Good idea, Muters, let's lay down.

Someone put baby in a corner... it was me!  I can scoot backwards on my belly with my arms!

Check me out!  I can get up onto my hands and knees and rock back and forth!  I'm growing so much all the time!  Yay!

Christmas Evening

Christmas dinner called for Xander to dress in his Christmas best!  Mama couldn't resist a mini photo shoot!

So sweet and festive!

Who loves his Grandma?  Now, who's ready for dinner?

Roasted organic red fingerling potatoes...

Organic sweet potato casserole...

All alongside roasted organic cauliflower with whipped goat cheese and pan fried wild caught turbot.  For the first time in a long time Mama was happy with all the dinner results!  Even though she only served one thing she'd made before.  Yay Mama!

After dinner, Grandma and Grandpa sat with Xander and read him a book while enjoying their after dinner coffees.

Then it was time for some reindeer games!  The game was mainly just putting Xander in the reindeer suit and seeing how cute he was :)

Jeremy and Samara joined us for Christmas dinner this year and couldn't resist the photo op!  How many times do you get to have your picture taken with a bonafide reindeer!?

Mama and Dada had the best Christmas ever with Xander and the rest of our family that could join us.  Looking forward to next Christmas and all the fun times that will come before December 25th 2012!

Christmas Afternoon

Grandma and Grandpa Brelsford came over in the afternoon for Christmas at the Beneezee residence.  Once Xander was up from his nap, he got to start opening his presents brought all the way from Yelm!

Xander got his first Christmas ornament!  Hard to tell from the photo, but it is a personalized giraffe with blue spots and mane.  He is wearing a scarf that says "Baby's First Christmas, Xander Jax 2011".  So sweet!  Xander had Grandma hang it on the tree for him too.

Grandma and Grandpa got Xander (and Mama and Dada) lots of nice things including (but not limited to) this UW bib and Amazon gift card show above.

After Xander's gifts from Grandma and Grandpa were all opened, it was time to open the rest of the presents from Santa before another nap was needed.  Dada helped Xander to open his card from Mama and Dada - a cute penguin one!

Santa got Xander this cute Seahawks hat.  It's a little big, but Santa knows that Xander is growing fast and will need it next season.

Xander got to open the giant gift Santa left under the tree.  It's an activity table!  Xander loves to stand, with assistance, so Santa knew that Xander would love this toy.  He started playing with it right out of the blanket Santa had wrapped it in!

Xander opened his present from Mama and Dada next - it's a personalized pirate bank with an X engraved on the sail.  Dada likes pirates and pirate related things, so we figured Xander will too!

Xander got a little cranky with that last gift, but he stayed cool just long enough before needing he next nap.  Overall, Xander got a ton of presents from Santa, Mama and Dada, Grandma and Grandpa and lots of other people who love him.  Thanks to everyone for making Xander's first Christmas so special!

Kristmas Kitteh Kelebration

Mute and Sark never get left out at Christmas time, and this year was no exception.  They, while supervised, got to spend plenty of time under the tree.  They both love this for some unknown reason, maybe because it's mostly forbidden.  Inevitably a kitteh being under the tree translates into something uneatable being eaten... domestic terrorism...

After Xander opened his first round of gifts, during his nap, it was time for the kitteh stockings.  Mute got to start things off because she was being more social than Sark at the time.  You can see his eyes glowing in the background/hallway outside the door there...

Each kitteh got four toys, including a stuffed mouse.  This particular kind is Mute's favorite, so she started playing right away.

That's when Sark came in for the party.  He likes to dominate every situation, so whenever Mute starts playing with something he inevitably comes along and takes the toy away from her.

So since Mute was done with her stocking, Sark got to open his.

He immediately bypassed his spring, crinkle ball and catnip infused fish on a ring and went in for the kill on his mouse.

But wait... what is Mute doing?  Oh, Mute has her own mouse... Sark No Like!

Sark stole Mute's mouse and ran to a dark corner to do what he does best - destroy.

We had to intervene.  We got Mute her mouse back and switched it out.  Sark didn't mind that much and took his mouse out to his viewing area.

Mute was thrilled.  He was free to play with her mouse again without fear of it being stolen from her.  Plus she got to do a little spider-catting as well; that's one of her favorite moves!

Kitteh + Kristmas = Luv