7.5 Months

Well, it's been a very long time since my last update. A lot has happened in the last 3 weeks!

Jaxon turned 7 months old on the 14th. He is such a big boy now! He weighs 19 lbs 3 oz and is 27 inches long. Jaxon is exploring the house more and more everyday. He can get into absolutely anything! He loves Lucy's water bowl and goes straight there almost every time we put him down now. He actually ventured into the kitchen for the first time today. (I guess I should start baby proofing the house!) He gets up on all 4s and rocks back and forth. He also can get into the crawling position from sitting, so it really only is a matter of time before he's actually crawling instead of scooting everywhere. He finally started sitting up on his own a couple weeks ago. He also has 3 teeth now. His third one cut through his gums last week. He was a little cranky so I'm glad that's what was causing his discomfort.

I've been teaching Jaxon a little bit of sign language, mostly the basics like milk, more, food, and drink. He can't sign back yet but a few days ago he understood when I signed milk to him! It was so exciting to see him make the connection and be able to understand me.

Jaxon is SO interested in the dogs lately. He will pull on Leila's hair, grab at Lucy's face and crack up when he sees Lucy playing fetch. The dogs don't mind too much, but there are times they just get up and walk away from him because they're tired of their paws being touched or Jaxon screeching in their face. (As I type this Jaxon is scooting around chasing Lucy and Lucy keeps hiding behind the table. It's so cute!)

****Important Message!**** I just got word that my nephew Xander Michael Lester made his grand entrance into the world today! He was 8 lbs 6 oz and 20 inches long! Both mom and baby are doing great! Congratulations Alex and Donielle!!!!!


Jaxon had another laser treatment done on his hemangioma on Friday. He did a great job and I think it looks better every month. It is pretty much flesh colored now so all you really notice is that his lip is slightly larger and bulged out more where the hemangioma is. We are so happy with the results and very glad we chose this treatment option!

I have one week left of my first online course at National University. It's a class about writing research papers and such. So far it's going great, even though it is just a lot tedious work. I will admit that I'll be happy when it's over.

Jake has been flying nights an awful lot lately. He'll go into work around 2 pm and then come home around 2-4 am. It's nice because he gets more time with Jaxon this way, but it is messing up Jake's sleep schedule a lot. Jake will be gone to WTI in Yuma, Arizona starting around Labor Day. He went to this back in 2009. It's about 3 months long so Jaxon and I plan on making several trips out to Yuma to visit Daddy.


Here are a couple videos of Jaxon:
Jaxon sharing a nectarine with Lucy

Jaxon scooting at 6.5 months

Jaxon laughs at Lucy playing fetch

Here are some 7 months pics!

Happy 6th of July!

I forgot about updating my blog before the 4th of July so today we'll celebrate the 6th of July. How about that?

Jake has a super short work week this week, only going in to work on Monday and Friday. (Jaxon and I love extra Daddy time!) On Saturday we went over to our friend's house and ate dinner and watched the big fireworks display that the nearby casino puts on every year. It was a pretty long fireworks show, so I could only imagine how much money a big production like that costs. On Wednesday the 4th we invited some friends over for some of Jake's smoked ribs and to watch the fireworks that the city of Temecula puts on. Well, we forgot about watching the fireworks because we were all inside playing a game together. I'm still not even sure if we could have seen them from our house or not. While our friends were leaving for the night, I opened up the front door and a bird flew into our house!! It was pretty hysterical watching the boys sprint up the stairs and try to catch this bird to get it back outside. After a couple minutes the bird was finally caught and put out back, but it did provide some last minute laughs.

Yesterday Jake and I went to test drive a couple cars. We first went to go see a Toyota Camry Hybrid and really liked it. The dealer there wasn't giving us as much money as we were wanting for our SUV as a trade so we went to the nearby Hyundai dealership and drove around a new Elantra. That car was really nice but not quite as big of an interior than the Camry. They basically wanted to give us the same amount for our trade-in as the first place so we walked away from that too. Our SUV is currently posted on Craigslist but we haven't had any serious inquiries about it yet. We'll take it into Carmax maybe this weekend or next and see what they're willing to give us for it. The first dealer we went to go see said it was hard to put a price on the car because there just aren't any out there for sale. If he had some to look at and compare he would have been willing to give us what we were asking for it. Even though that does stink, it is true. Not even a single Carmax in the nation has a 2008 XL7 which is weird. Oh well, when the right time comes we'll get a different car.

Monday the 9th is when I start my school back up! I'll be taking an online class from July 9- early August then I'll have another online class that starts a couple days after this one ends. It will also be a month long. October 10th is when I turn in my nursing application to school. From there I'll take the TEAS test, which is similar to the ACT or SAT but it is only for prospective nursing students. After the test we have an essay we have to write. They only accept 50 students during each application period (there are 4 application periods per year). They rank the applicants based on their grades, GPA, TEAS test score and the essay. My admissions adviser told me that the TEAS test is usually the hardest part and you pretty much have to score an 85% or higher to even be considered. I need to order my study materials for the test so I can prepare for it while I'm taking my online classes. If I get accepted into the nursing program from the October application period then I will start the nursing program in April 2013. The whole program will take 22 months to complete so I will be finished in February 2015. That seems so far away and right now I already am sad just thinking about putting Jaxon in daycare while I'm at school. But this is what is best for Jaxon, Jake and I and nursing is what I've wanted to do for so long now (thanks Grandma!)!

I've done enough rambling for today so I'll end this post here. Thanks for reading! We love and miss you all back home.

Love,
Jake, Alycia and Jaxon

Bargain Shopper

Well, I thought I'd let everyone know some cool new sites I found out about.

The first is Swagbucks. You use it as a search engine, like Yahoo or Google. Some searches will earn you points and you can turn in your accumulated points for prizes. I already received a $5.00 Amazon gift card!! It's an easy way to get free things! You can sign up  HERE  to start earning rewards too.

I also found if you're in contact with different companies they oftentimes have free samples they'll send out frequently or different coupons for their products. I hear many companies' Facebook pages do this, so if you have Facebook go 'like' a bunch of companies to earn free stuff. One recent one I heard about was getting a free apron from Presto's Pizza. It seems like it would be worth it! Presto's Pizza Free Apron   I also had a few friends get a free beauty gift bag from Target through their Facebook page.

Another way to get coupons in the mail or email is just to send different companies your opinion on their products. Be honest about how you feel. Do you like them? Do you use it often? Have you recommended it to your friends? Most companies love to hear feedback, whether good or bad, and will reward you with coupons!


What are some of your money saving tips and tricks?

Picture Overload

Finally, here are the pictures I promised from our vacation back home. It may take your computer a while to upload them all because there are a TON! I didn't even post half of what I took while we were home. Hope you enjoy!!