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Sunday, May 30, 2010

A Trip to the Zoo!

It was Memorial Weekend and so we decided to take a family trip to the Phoenix Zoo. Since it is so close to where we live and very kid friendly, we decided to get an annual pass for the whole family to enjoy. So we set out in the 105 degree heat, packed with LOTS of sun screen, baby hats and plenty of cold drinks. When you live in Arizona, you have to be prepared when you venture outside in the heat during the summer. Well, it was SOOOOO much fun! Blaze actually looked at all of the animals and smiled and watched intently as they moved around in their enclosures. He really enjoyed the petting zoo and the goats, getting up close and personal with them. There will be so much more for him to do in the years to come, a spray ground water play area, lots of educational programs, even being able to ride your bikes through the zoo grounds, and so much more. Blaze got to enjoy his first snow cone, and even tiny bits of Mommy's chicken fingers and fries. What a great day!

Watching the fish and turtles

Just hanging out

Enjoying the petting zoo and my new friends

My First Carousel Ride




Everyone likes my portable highchair...Me too!!!

My 1st Memorial Day outfit, it only lasted until lunch

A tired boy

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

A Very Special First Mother's Day

I know this post is WAY overdue! But, when it comes to spending time with the love of my life or updating the blog...my little man ALWAYS wins out! Sorry for those who follow, but time is precious and I don't want to miss a moment.

What can I say???? Blaze is growing leaps and bounds and we swear he changes by the minute, although he is still tall and skinny. We continue to count our blessings EACH and EVERY day and thank God, our awesome doctors, Dr.Sudhir and Dr.Yash, and the whole Surrogacy India team, for the amazing little boy that they have blessed us with. He is so perfect in every way. A beautiful, happy, healthy little boy. How lucky can two people be?

Gerry made my first official Mother's Day so very special. He had to work at the fire station on the actual day, so we celebrated the day before, Just family! We played by the pool and Gerry cooked a very special supper of crab, lobster and steak, all of my favorites, and oh so yummy! To top off my wonderful day, Gerry and Blaze gave me a new camera, and 2 hand made poster boards filled with so many beautiful pictures of Blaze and I. There were beautiful pictures starting from the very first time I saw him on the monitor at 19 weeks in-utero, right up until the present. It brought a flood of tears and emotion to me. The thoughtfulness and hard work he put into it for me was so touching. I have the very BEST husband!


Blaze and I spent the actual Mother's Day Sunday together with lots and lots of "Mommy and me time". We again spent most of the day enjoying the beautiful weather and played in the pool and laughed and giggled. At one point I just stared at him and cried with tears of joy for the very special gift I had on Mother's Day, my beautiful miracle, my Blaze.


We recently took our first family get-away up North to our favorite cabins in Pinetop, AZ. It was a wonderful weekend of relaxation, walking, feeding the ducks, fishing, sitting by the fire, taking in beautiful scenery, and going out in the boat. Neyla loved the great outdoors with so many new and exciting areas to sniff and explore. Blaze loved to sit by the window of our log cabin and look out over the lake as the sun set. And Mommy and Daddy enjoyed some quiet family time at night just relaxing by the roaring fire in the fireplace.


Blaze seems to be changing every day. From all of the new skills he is learning to the new sounds and faces he is making. We love to watch him grow, and Gerry and I sit and reminisce all the time about how just a few years ago we only were able to dream that we would be doing this very thing! It is truly amazing. The gift of Motherhood is the very best thing in life I could have ever hoped and dreamed for.

Some Stuff That Has Recently Happened In The Life Of Blaze Xennon

Our little man is sitting up nice and straight on his own now and loves to sit and play on the floor with all of his toys. Neyla loves to take this opportunity to give her brother some nice wet kisses, and Blaze just giggles and smiles. He grabs at everything he can reach and what he can't reach he definitely tries very hard to get.

OOPS, Daddy forgot my new shopping cart cover!

He likes to play a game of peek-a-boo with his bib. He pulls it up over his face and when he peeks out we say 'peek-a -boo' and he smiles and giggles and then just repeats it over and over. Every time we say 'boo', no matter what he is doing, we get a huge smile and a giggle.

His top teeth are coming through now. His 2nd bottom tooth came in 2 weeks after his1st, so he now has such a beautiful toothy smile. He is having a bit more difficultly with these big front top teeth and has had a stuffy, runny nose, but thankfully no fever. Poor little fella. We got him a tooth brush that he holds himself and he really enjoys sucking and chewing on it after we give those few teeth a quick cleaning.


His swimming lessons are going great. He has been dubbed the class's "Star Pupil", and received his first ribbon. The instructor Brice, uses Blaze, since he is so easy going and relaxed in the water, to show all of the new parents the different exercises that he does in class to teach the children.


Blaze also loves going in our own pool at home and he sure enjoys just floating around in his floaty for hours. He is mesmerized by the water fall in our pool, and just loves it when we take him over by it and let the water splash down on him.


He has been eating Stage 3 foods for the last month and a half with no problems, and is now even eating with us at the table. He recently had his first cooked meal of carrots and mashed potatoes, which he just loved. He also recently tried eggs too, and he seemed to like them, even though he made a few funny faces while eating them. He is such a big boy now that he has his own bowls and spoons. He has found a new favorite for snack time, it's Gerber Puffs. He especially likes the Sweet Potato flavored ones. We have discovered though that he is not a fan of the flavor of the tomato paste in the bottles of baby food. I guess that we will have to make our own and see if he likes that.

Apples and Pears...MMMMM!

He continues to be a great sleeper and has continued to sleep through the night as he has done since being only 2 months old, lucky us! I definitely believe that the secret is to keep him in a routine. Our routine has been to eat supper around 5 pm, then have some playtime and cuddle time, and sometimes a stroll around the neighborhood. Then it's bath time around 7 pm, with lots of kicking and splashing.


We then try to wind down a bit. One of his favorite things to do is lay across Daddy's lap and we play a few videos of him on the computer. He just stares intently at the screen and smiles. Then it's bottle time. Sometimes he will drink quite a bit, 9 to 11 ounces. And sometimes he will only drink a bit, 4 or 5 ounces. When he doesn't drink a lot, we then give him a bowl of cereal, which he really loves and eats right up, and it gets him to drink his milk without him even knowing it! Then we give him lots and lots of kisses and put him in his crib, where he will fall asleep on his own. With our routine for Blaze, it also includes 2 long naps during the day, one in the morning after play time and one mid-day, about an hour after eating lunch.

Yep, I actually sleep like this??!!

Blaze has also learned to mimic us. If we slap the water or our knee with our hand, he does it too. If we hit our own hand like a clap (give us 5), he will do that too. And when we talk to him, he tries to talk to us back. He recently said his first word, and wouldn't you know it, it was "DaDa", Darn it, Mommy lost that one!



Well, that hopefully brings our followers up to speed on whats been happening in the life of our little guy. We will try to update our Blog a bit more frequently. We have Blaze's 9 month doctor's appointment coming up very soon, and we are both so excited to see how he has grown. And as the 100 degree temperatures have already hit us here in Arizona, I'm sure a lot of our time will be spent cooling off in the pool.

And more random cuteness: