Keep carding us

We've really enjoyed receiving so many Christmas cards in the mail—but we aren't sending out any of our own this year (baby's hospital bills ate up our "Christmas card" funds, and 2 young-uns in the house didn't give us much time to assemble a witty letter anyway!). Please keep us on your "nice" list!

In lieu of a Boeding family picture in the mail, I'm posting some of our favorite shots taken by our friend and photographer Kate Elliott earlier this month (check out her website and hire her if you're in the Cedar Valley area):

Leo, 3 months old (chunkalicious!)

The Boedings, in December 2011

The brothers

"Uhhh, can I get some help here??"

In a nutshell, the highlights of our year: We discovered we were pregnant in January, and baby Leo was born in September. He spent his first week in NICU getting antibiotic treatments for a suspected pneumonia infection, and he never showed signs of sickness. As you can see, he is a healthy 3-month-old! We've also been warmed by the tenderness of big brother Xavier. He is really embracing his new little brother as part of the family, although it was a tough adjustment for the first few weeks :)

Jay has traveled all over the state for Leadership Iowa and headed to Orlando and DC for his work with the IPTV Foundation. Steph continues to do freelance proofreading from home so she can be with the little guys. Xavier started preschool the day after Leo was born and loves books. He also has developed a love for Star Wars and Legos. In July, we took a family vacation with Steph's folks to Ohio, and Xavier got to see Grandpa Steve's favorite team (the Reds) take on Jay's favorite team (the Blue Jays) for his first MLB game. We also visited both of Steph's sisters on the trip (Amanda in Ohio and Erin in Illinois). Lots of fun! Steph's brother Nick and his family moved near an air base in Germany—we miss them! Jay's folks live nearby and love being a part of the boys' lives—and we really appreciate Grandma Joan babysitting two days a week so Steph can continue being part of Bible Study Fellowship. We are growing as disciples of Jesus at Hope Lutheran in Des Moines. Come visit if you are looking for a church home on the east side!

Happy new year to you all, and we wish you all the best in 2012!

~ The Boedings

When reading backfires ...

It's official: I can no longer take Xavier with me through the Target greeting card section...

Here's what happened today: I was scoping out cards in the "sister birthday" section (shout-out to Amanda, who gets closer to 30 next week), and X had migrated over to the "husband birthday" section a few feet away. He saw a cute-looking card, with cartoon animals on the front, and brought it over to me, mentioning how I could get this card for Jay in a couple of months. Awww, how sweet, right? :) 

Then X starts to read it to me: "To my husband, who's as strong as an ox (cute picture of ox), as crafty as a fox (cute picture of fox), as wise as an owl (cute picture of owl)..." And at this point, I'm thinking what a nice little card this is, and wondering what cute animal and punchline will be inside. Then X opens it up to finish reading: "And as horny as a moose!" Oh my! I just quickly said, "Oh, that's cute!" and shut it and put it back. Luckily for me, he didn't ask what that meant... he just liked the picture of the blushing cartoon moose inside! Why are adult-humored cards placed at child-height??! I'm not ready to explain this kind of stuff to my 4-year-old!! Argh!

Unwrapped

Xav sailed straight through a rite of passage this week... he had been by himself downstairs (where our Christmas tree is set up this year), and came upstairs to announce to us what he was getting for Christmas, and wondering where was the Lego set he had put on his wishlist. After a quick "what do you mean, Xavier?" he freely admitted he had just unwrapped the presents under the tree, the ones I had stayed up late wrapping the night before... ugh! Jay and I had to quickly put on our "angry parent" faces (but really, we were laughing inside because we remember the same antics from our own childhoods). So now X's presents are safely stowed in a closet until Christmas. Learning patience!

The wee one, Leo, is doing great... he really wants to be sitting "up" lately, and will use his little elbows to try to push himself more upright when he's in his papasan chair or swing. He's holding his hands together really well, watching people like a hawk, and starting to grab for things. Soon, all of big brother's Legos will have to be picked up off the floor... another source of exasperation to come, I'm sure :) Leo's "faux-hawk" of hair continues to grow—pretty sure we'll need to have a trim before long! He's a pretty snuggly guy, and quite a chunky monkey. He'll be 4 months old in early January, and then we'll get to try feeding him rice cereal. Leo loves to smile and babble (even takes frequent "talk breaks" while nursing), so we're expecting him to be quite a talker, just like big brother. Time will tell!

Halloween with Xavier

Things said by X (dressed as Luke Skywalker) while trick-or-treating on Sunday:

"I think I saw an Obi-Wan back there... he's my 'Master,' ya know."

(Passing a 'Darth Vader' who failed to acknowledge him:) "There's Darth... he's my father, ya know."

(At several houses): "Happy Halloween! It's Star Wars season... I celebrate it every day! Come on over to my house on 35th Street... I have lots of Star Wars toys!!"

And my personal favorite Luke phrase: "I'm Luke Skywalker. I saved the galaxy, ya know..." (I think he got an extra piece of candy at the home where he said that.)

I had a blast walking around the 'hood with Xav. It was a little chilly, but not too bad. He had a lot of fun chatting about "Star Wars" at several of the houses, and at one house where a teenager and his buddies were passing out candy, X showed them his Jedi moves with his lightsaber. So many parents on the sidewalk called him "Luke" or a Jedi as we passed by, and he was eating it up!

Leo stayed home with Jay, but I got him into a little pumpkin costume long enough to take a couple of pictures. Photos to come soon! Now to raid all the chocolate candy while X is asleep... shhhh!

When kids repeat your words...

Jay sneezes in the kitchen. From the front room, Xavier says loudly, "Be quiet!" Jay sneezes again. Xav: "You know I taught you better than that!" Jay, to me, half laughing, half in shock: "Where did he learn to say THAT, Stephiebear??"  :)

Viva la difference!

Leo is now nearly 6 weeks old... when baby Xavier was this age, he was just starting to smile and reach for toys. What a fun time! As Jay says regarding the first few tough weeks, "They learn to smile just when you really need them to!" It's been neat to look back on Xavier's first-year baby calendar and see what we were doing and when he was reaching little milestones in his first months. So glad I wrote down even little trivial things, because I never would've remembered them in my head!

It's been fun to see how Leo and Xav are different at this young age. Leo has more hair, which is SO fun to nibble, especially when he's riding in the Baby Bjorn :)  Xavier did pretty well in the baby swing at this age, but Leo... not so much! Leo also doesn't stay asleep during stroller walks like X did, which doesn't make walks very relaxing for Mommy...

And lots of things seem about the same the second time around... a fair amount of spitting up (lots of my shirts have been victims), lots of fussiness when trying to poop (I blame the Boeding colon), and both boys have beautiful blue eyes :) And one important thing: neither baby boy has/had peed on Mom or Dad at this point! Woo-hoo! (Xavier only sprayed Mommy once or twice in 2 years... not bad!)

We really cherish getting to see more of Leo's personality each day, and we love seeing how loving Xav is toward his brother. We're still not feeling confident enough to travel very far with the little guy, so Wartburg homecoming and Steph's grandma's 90th birthday will be without the Boedings this month. But do stop by and visit if you find yourself in the Des Moines area!

Xavier is still adjusting to being a big brother... he still clasps his hands over his ears whenever he hears Leo crying, but I think the evolving nicknames he has for Leo show that he's softening up. 
Week 1: "Baby Wah-Wah."
Week 2: "Padawan."
Week 3: "Shnook-ums."

Leo's first days

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Our new family of 4

The story behind the name

Baby Leo is already 3 weeks old… and Jay and just realized we haven’t shared with most folks the reason we chose his name, Leo Ray. And no, he’s NOT named after Pope Leo X, who was pope during the Reformation—we are not anti-Luther; that’s just an unforeseen coincidence! The name “Leo” is the name of Jay’s grandpa, whom Jay never got to meet. Grandpa Leo was a great ballplayer and loved to fish, and he served in WWII, where he was injured. The middle name, “Ray,” is from Steph’s side of the family, where 2 of her great-grandpas had that name. Steph’s dad’s grandpa is an especially colorful character, and “you always knew where you stood with Grandpa Ray.” He was a farmer in South Dakota, loved to fish, and you didn’t want to cross him! Xavier’s name is rooted in family heritage, and we wanted Leo’s name to express that as well.

Baby Leo