Trimming the Tree

Things have been a little crazy with Alexis coming 2 weeks early and all. So we have finally pulled out our Christmas stuff. Aaron insists that we can only do this AFTER Thanksgiving. Understandably so, Thanksgiving is a very important time of year and not one that should idly be looked over. Having your daughter born on that day kind of makes it important too!
So Aaron pulled out all of out Christmas stuff and he and Zack started to put it all out. Zack had a blast helping dad with the tree. We think he was most excited to do this because he saw the big train set that we have that goes around the bottom of the tree and we told him that we can't set it up until we set up the tree. There is a great motivator!!

A Very Happy Thanksgiving

Alexis Nicole Bates has chosen November 27th, 2008 to join or family. Yep, Thanksgiving Day 2008, plus it is Joel's fiance's birthday too. A little something extra.
Amanda made it home before Aaron did Wednesday night and asked him if they could go out and walk the mall or something. So after dinner, everyone loaded up and went to the mall. After being out for about 2 hours we started to head home. Aaron taught Zack a fun game of Mall Hide-And-Seek in which Zack and Aaron would run to the space between each store and wait until Mom would come and find them, then they would run to the next open space. Aaron & Zack had a blast but Amanda had a difficult time keeping up. Give her a break she is full term pregnant at this point.

We came home and put Zack to bed after which Amanda desperately needed a bath to relax. After her bath she went to get a bowl of breakfast cereal. Again give her a break. A break is just what she got too. Her water broke about 10 PM on the 26th. So after calling Aaron's mom to come over and watch Zack, we headed off to the new Intermountain Medical Center. Amanda started full on labor at around midnight. Alexis was born about 4 AM.

Both mom and baby were fine. Amanda did a superb job of maintaining her weight and was off to a good quick recovery, which she would need with a 3 year old brother waiting at home. Alexis came with all 10 fingers and all 10 toes. Even a little bit of a retarded toe (it's a family thing). She was lucky and didn't get her fathers 'butt-chin' as Amanda puts it. She did however get the Putnam family ears. Very tiny. She was also born with a full head of black hair, which would explain all the terrible heartburn that Amanda went through. Even two weeks early she came out a healthy 7 lbs. 5 oz. an measured 20 1/2 in. A full pound and 1 inch less than big brother.

Everyone has agreed that she looks a lot like Amanda. It has been a long standing joke that both Amanda and her sister Britta are great copy machines. They make great copies through their children. Abby and Alexis are very much like their mothers and Zack and Landon are very much their fathers.

Amanda and Alexis are doing quite well and Zack is adjusting to being a big brother.

Stud!

Granted, it's his aunt Ranna and Nadene, but look at our little Ladies-Man! He's got an older woman on each arm.

I Can Cook!!

Zack a very independent child. He is learning to do things all on his own. He has now learned how to cook several things. It really started one morning that the pregnant Amanda was really tired due to, of course being pregnant. She hadn't had that much sleep from the previous night, but Zack doesn't grasp the fact that not everyone has the same stamina as a 3 year old does. So he came in and asked "Mommy I want pancakes, please!" Amanda said that she was too tried to cook them and said that Zack should cook them. To this Zack of course said that she should cook them. Back and forth this went for a little while before he got bored and said "OK, I can cook." To this response he headed straight to the pantry and started to pull out the pancake mix. Aaron found him struggling and immediately asked what he was doing. To this Zack answered "I can cook!" Since then Zack has cooked (Ramen) Noodles, Pancakes, Chocolate Syrup, Chocolate Cream-O-Wheat and Mac&Cheese (all under supervision, we would like to avoid the ER as much as possible as well as getting as much of our security deposit back as possible!)

Our Little Guitar Hero

The big thing right now are music games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band. We have opted for the former. Whither you are playing or watching, fun is had by all. It is definitely a great way to get everyone, especially children, excited about music. Every now and then Joel and Ruthann will come over and play. It's fun to watch them because they are much better then Aaron and Amanda. Zack has a great fondness for this as well. So much so, he has his own 'toy' guitar that he uses to play with the band. But what is most admirable is how he has picked up how to use the drums. Every now and then he will pick up the drum sticks and say "I'll play". Aaron has been working on patterns with Zack too. He will tell Zack a pattern and Zack will repeat it by hitting the corresponding color pads. He is such a smart kid. But hey, we are his parents, we get to brag as much as we'd like to!