“I would trade places with you”

“I would trade places with you…” is a phrase my dad would use when I got sick as a kid.  Through strep throat, colds, the flu, growing pains, and even surgeries I can’t remember a time when my dad didn’t vocalize the fact that he wished he could swap places with me.  Before this weekend I always thought it was just a nice thing he said, but now I know it is something much more.

Near the beginning of this week I got the flu and not just the 24 hour bug, but one of the worst ones I have had in years.  Paige and I did everything possible to keep Zander away from me, but somehow he still ended up with it.  Today it hit Zander like a ton of bricks and he spent almost the entire day in my arms.  It was at this moment that I looked down at my 20 lbs. son with tears in his eyes and thought the same thing my dad had always told me, “I would trade places with you”.  At this moment I realized that those words carried with them more than just a nice saying, but an amazing amount of love.  I can now say to my dad I understand exactly how you felt when you said those words.

Monumental Weekend

Well… today is Zander’s 5 month birthday.  Paige and I can’t believe how fast he is growing up and the amazing developments he is starting to reach.  Just over this weekend….

1) Zander had his first trip to the beach and touched sand for the first time (he loved it)

2) Zander jumped up to the next diaper size (#3)

3) Zander ate his first solid outside of rice cereal and had his first veggie tonight (carrots)

garden of the gods

Have you ever lived somewhere for a LONG time and just never gotten around to visiting that popular landmark that almost every tourist in the world has seen?  Well, I can now finally check one of those items off my list.  After growing up and living in Colorado for 18 years I never actually visited garden of the gods.  So during our first full day back in Colorado for our 4 day Easter trip, my brother (Grant) and his wife (Kerri) wanted to take us to see this beautiful red rock formation located in Colorado Springs.  So Paige and I left Zander to enjoy his grandparents and vice-versa, while we hiked around a windy and slightly cold park.  We watched some insane rock climbers scale the cliffs while we safely walked the sandy paths that simply went around the base of the rock formations.  The enormous red rocks were beautiful, but my favorite part was the conversation and jokes that we all shared.  After times like this I realize how much I miss living close to my brother and his wife.

Quiet House

For almost the past week now Paige and Zander have been on a trip to visit family all across the state of Colorado. Before you start to worry and think that I am a horrible husband/father for letting her and Zander travel by car to Colorado, please take note that she didn’t go alone. Paige’s parents were actually the ones leading the charge and Paige decided to join them in the adventure north. As they left I looked forward to reading a book and sleeping through the night without a cry from Zander to wake me up. However, after I got home from work and entered into our apartment I realized how quiet and boring the night was going to be (no food, no wife, and no kid). I slowly realized how much I would pick having a CRAZY house over a quiet house any day. Nonetheless, the rest of my weekend was filled with work, craziness, wedding showers, friends, and much more. Now I find myself eagerly waiting the return of my two favorite people. So is it just… my stomach that is ready for good home cooked food again? a need for companionship? a desire to use Paige’s Apple computer instead of my crappy PC? I say it is none of the above, but rather LOVE (hmmm… and maybe a little bit of the apple computer)!!! It is funny how you look back and can’t imagine your life without the people you love and live day-to-day with.

Baby Shower Pics

Check out pics from our Baby Shower…

click here

We can bring Zander home from the hospital – YIPPEE!!!!

So today was a VERY exciting day…until now, we wouldn’t be able to bring the baby home from the hospital. One of the only requirements is a car seat and we hadn’t gotten one yet. Good news…we have a car seat! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Staton, Zander will be riding around safely in his new super cute car seat. We brought it home and practiced by putting a stuffed monkey in the seat. We think it’s probably much easier to put a stuffed animal in it than a wriggling little baby. However, we were able to successfully get the monkey in the seat without harming him, so that’s a good start. Thanks to mom and dad for the adorable (and more importantly safe) gift!

3 Years ago

I know it is crazy to believe, but 3 years ago today Paige and I ran outside the doors of Mesa First Assembly in Arizona as a newly married couple. It is funny how as kids we understand how smart our parents are… then as high school and college students we think we know everything… then once married we come to a shocking realization that we know nothing. Now that Zander is on the way I am starting to accept that I have even less of a clue what I am doing or what all this baby stuff does or even is. However, in the midst of realizing that I know nothing there are three things I am sure of…

1. Getting Married to Paige is the best decision I could have ever made and I am so thankful to have my best friend as my wife and my hero – I love you Paige.
2. Having Zander has been an amazing experience and he isn’t even here yet – I can’t wait till he is actually here and we get to see what he looks like.
3. Paige and I have been surrounded with best family a couple could ask for and we love you all.

Belly Pictures

Ok, so I think the world has waited long enough.  I’m ready to see some belly pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I know you have some because I have taken them.  All those in favor let it be known…….. The truth is I was right about Paige being a SUPER cute prego.

Strollers and Car Seats

Yesterday was a funny day as Paige and I made a quick trip to the store to get pregnancy necessities – candy and corndogs (this one is recent and I’m not quite sure where it came from). Anyways, during this trip we decided to drop by the baby section of wal-mart and look at strollers and car seats. We have determined that we REALLY want the kind that you can just pop into the stroller. After reading articles and thousands of baby magazines it was suggested that we pull the stroller down and actually see how it feels (right height, good wheels, light weight). After pulling the stroller down the fun began as Paige and I looked like cave men trying to figure out a stove or a car for the first time. We pushed on buttons trying to figure out what they did, tried to collapse the stroller, and then spent almost 5-10 minutes trying to figure out how to unlock the stroller after we collapsed it. Needless to say, Paige and I left the store very encouraged that we still have about 5 months to still figure all this stuff out.

Glad we aren’t the first

So now that I’m going to be a dad and my wife is pregnant, weird things have traveled through my mind. One of those lines of thoughts started by thinking about how lucky Paige and I are to live in a world where we can look things up on the internet, get books off amazon, and talk to friends who have already experienced having a kid. We are honestly so lucky to live in a world where we can access information within minutes. But WHAT IF you were the first person in the entire world to be pregnant (Eve)? Did she start freaking out when her belly started to get huge? did she think it was ever going to stop growing? Did her husband think WOW my wife is packing on the pounds? Did she even know that a little baby was in her belly? After I pondered this thought I came to a conclusion that I’m just glad Paige and I know what is to come and we can’t wait. We are SO excited and scared all at the same time and we know where this huge preggo belly thing is going to end up.