Selden Family Updates...

Wow, its been a while since I've posted!  And have we been busy in the last 5 weeks or so... I'll try to update - and be better with posting!  Because ultimately, the reason I do this blog is for our out of town family that doesn't see us every day, or every month even, and wants to stay updated on our happenings.  And secondly, I want Alexis and our family to be able to look back and read about everything that we did!  Activities, feelings, excitement.  I want to try to capture as much of that as I can!


Well, like I said, we've been quite busy over the last month!  Alexis has grown up SO SO much!  I'll give some specifics a little later but what I've realized above all is that the toddler years are amazing in so many ways... they really do become their own person during these years!  Wow, is that amazing! To know that you've helped to bring a whole other separate being into this world - well, that doesn't become more evident as during the toddler years! They will definitely let you know when they are happy, sad, content, mad... Basically, they will let you know. Period. Whatever it is that they are feeling... well, they will let you know!  And confession - that can be both the most amazing feeling in the whole wide world - and the most frustrating!  I very vividly remember my own parents telling me when I was younger that parenting didn't come with a manual. Back then, I didn't care what that meant. In fact, I probably thought they were full of shi* and thought that meant I had full range over them! But now... well, I totally get it. 110%. There is no manual and honestly, we have no idea what we're doing most of the time!  But as long as she's happy, safe, loved, clothed, fed, clean and heart full of joy and faith... then I feel like I can be confident that we're doing the best that we can to ensure that we're raising a wonderful little person.

We've been blessed with some AMAZING Spring weather here in Seattle! 

Here are some photos from earlier of Alexis hanging in the front yard...







What these photos don't show is that before we took them, Alexis got to play with four of the neighbor girls!  Two right next door and then two other sisters just two doors down.  Summertime brings all the kids to frolic in our cul-de-sac and it warms my heart that they are so excited to include Alexis into their play activities!  I feel like we live in just the type of neighborhood that I was looking for - lots of kids and they all just treat everyone's home like their own.  It isn't uncommon for us to come home and find one of the neighbor kids playing in our driveway or to have them come up to us and ask if "Alexis can come play" or even Lola!  I love it!  As this is our first home, I've always just kind of assumed that we'd move into something else.  In fact, we have a sort of/somewhat 5 year plan to move somewhere else, close-by with an amazing school district.  However, the more we live in our home (especially given the awful housing market!), the more I realize that this just might the long-term home for us and we might not want to leave!  This just might be the place that we raise our kids until they leave for college.  The schools that they would attend at this home get phenomenal ratings and like I said, the neighborhood is just perfect to raise kids - especially to grow up with other kids their age!  Who knows what the short term future holds but for now, I'm feeling very content with having Alexis grow up in our home and neighborhood that offers so much.

 As far as Alexis updates... well... here are some stats:

-  She is a talker!  And quite an articulate one at that! Says quite a few words with precision and repeats almost anything nowadays... we are on full alert now.

-  Loves MICKEY!!!!  (purposely with the capitals and exclamation points because most of the time, she shouts when she says his name ).  She has become obsessed with Mickey Mouse and freaks out over the sight of him, his ears, Minnie Mouse, the sound of the hot-dog dance... anything Mickey.  Also loves to say "Mickey's Puppy" which is Pluto and her own variation of "Goofy" who she thinks is totally hilarious.  We are already mentally planning a Disneyland vacation sometime next year in conjunction with visiting my family... what is it about those Disney characters that captures kids?!?!?

-  She loves "botch-up" (ketchup).  Quite literally her favorite food, if you could call it that.  She eats it on everything.  Trying to curb the addiction a little bit...

-  LOVES "animoes" (animals).  All kinds!  She loves to help care for our pets and is always sure to tell me "kitties, water" to make sure I give the cats some water in their bowls.  Her best friend has always been Lola and continues to be.  But she's discovered new animals that she also likes, especially "ell-phants" (elephants), "mah-kees" (monkeys), "Duccckeees" (ducks) and "buhn-ees" (bunnies).

-  Alexis has just started in gymnastics at Metropolitan Gymnastics in Kent!  We do a Mommy & Me program on Saturday mornings.  We had our first class last weekend and she LOVED it.  She even practiced her somersault this week and perfected it!  Her favorite activity last week was the trampoline.  I'm so excited to go back tomorrow and see what else she enjoys.  She had a great time and last week, I had to carry her out kicking and screaming because she wanted to stay longer!

-  Well, she has her first crush.  On a little boy named Andrew at daycare.  She asks about Andrew ALL.THE.TIME.  When we're driving there in the morning, she asks about him.  And then again when we're walking up to this house.  And of course when she sees him.  Its so adorable... she'll walk in, see him and say "Ahhh-drew."  He's a bit older (a kindergardner!) and super sweet to her so he says "hi Alexis!" and usually gives her a hug.  So adorable, but man, does it really start this soon???  To me, its just cute and sweet!  But to her dad... well, he was a little bummed that when picking her up last week from daycare, she wanted to give him a kiss good-bye!  Ha!  She also has girlfriends that she loves at daycare and asks about too - "Ash-leeee" (Ashley) and "Ny-ahhh" (Na'ia).  But mama can tell where her heart truly lies right now.  =)

-  She likes to perform for what Kathleen and I call the Alexis Fan Club which is a group of about 4 or 5 kindergardners and they ask her to say something and then she'll repeat it to which they laugh hysterically.  And then she breaks into a huge smile at having made a group of older kids laugh!  Most of the time, they ask her to say harmless and random words like "magazine," "awkward,"... even "Lady Gaga!"  Ha!

-  She loves her baby!  her baby is her little purple Cabbage Patch doll (named Annie and given to her by Auntie Annie for her birthday last year!).  She now has to go to sleep with her baby and asks about her if she comes into our room or goes downstairs and she isn't there.  She also loves to wrap her in a blanket and then "shhhhh.  Sleeping!"  It is the sweetest!!!!  It is crazy how the motherly instinct kicks in so early in little girls!


I guess above all, she has just become so much more grown up.  I know that she is still very young but she has come into her own and bascially told us who she will be!  What a wonderful feeling.  She is so much fun right now... when we take her places and do activities with her, she takes part as herself now instead of just helping us.  And I can definitely tell that she is a total hybrid of both Jason and I.  How cool is it to see both you and your partner in another small, little separate version of you?  How does that not make you just feel something even deeper for your spouse than you did before?

Spring is here!

We've been busy enjoying the start of Spring!

We met a new little one in our extended family... Anthony Avila-Petitt! The poor little guy is destined to years of torture ahead growing up with Alexis and his two older sisters but something tells me he will enjoy it! What a little sweetheart he is! And Alexis had a good time hanging with the girls. Kadence is a great older role model and just adores Alexis! Kohyn and Alexis are only 3 weeks apart and something tells me these two will be giving their parents (especially the dads!) many gray hairs together in the future!



We've spent a lot of our weekends doing family stuff... open family swim time at the Covington Aquatic Center, taking walks in the neighborhood and enjoying the many children's museums in the area! This is our first time at the Factoria one:




And of course with the start of Spring, we have Easter coming up this weekend! My mom and Larry are heading to Costa Rica the night before Easter so they had us all over the weekend before to celebrate. My mom had mentioned that she wanted to set up an Easter egg hunt for Alexis. I wasn't sure that she would really get the concept of the hunt but figured I would at least get some cute pics. Well, was I wrong! She caught on to finding those little eggs right away and knew she was on a mission! She found every single one on her own. And at the end when we tried to take her basket away, she was pretty upset we would try to take her treasures! What a great feeling - I think it was our first "holiday tradition" that I think she actually grasped the concept of. It is both a sad feeling that she is growing up SO increadibly fast! But also a reminder that every day is even more fun and exciting than the last. I know there are generations of parents before me who have said that time and time again, but once it's your turn to actually experience it with your own flesh and blood that you love more than life itself, you feel as though you are the first person in the world to know what it feels like! Parenthood is incredible!






After the egg hunt was concluded, Alexis broke into a fabulous celebration dance...



Other Alexis updates? Well, as I already mentioned, she is growing up more and more everyday. She talks up a storm now! She reminds me a lot of me - fairly shy at first, and then can't keep her mouth shut! But still timid. If she's in the mood, she's definitely not afraid to go make new friends. We went to story time recently at the Maple Valley library and she walked up to every kid in there to say hi during the middle of the reading. I thought for a moment we were getting kicked out! And when we meet at various play areas, she often tries to make friends with kids who are much older than she is by just walking up and looking them right in the face! That is usually enough to entice them to invite her along in climbing a playscape or whatever it is they're doing. Gotta admire her ambition! But, without fails, she always, ALWAYS comes running back to me for a hug or some sort of necessity. Even if just to say, "Hi Mommy." It makes me feel like the most special person in the whole world!

I'm sure my blog posts read like a jukebox stuck on play... but I am so proud of my little girl! And notice I say little girl and not baby. Because she has definitely turned that point of becoming a little girl now! We talk all the time now. She has become very vocal and a lot of her words are quite understandable. And we enjoy doing stuff together like mother and daughter. She tells us "thank you" when we give her something and when I sneeze, I hear a sweet, soft "bless you!" from wherever she is within earshot of me. Oh, how my heart melts when I hear that! She has forever tattooed my heart and my outlook on life.

Speaking of her influence, we had a few notable March of Dimes events and milestones this week! The Fed Ex event we had scheduled was canceled last minute so we didn't go to that. But we had a really wonderful meeting on Wednesday! We were invited to a meeting with KIRO 7 Family Connections at Big Fish Games. KIRO 7 is the main sponsor of MOD and their Family Connections Program sponsors quite a few other charities. Many of the charities were at the meeting to represent who they were and what they were about. We were there to tell our story and provide a face for the MOD's mission. It was absolutely wonderful. And so great to hear about so many other causes out there - most of them about kids and babies.

Our other milestone is that we've met - and surpassed our donation goal for the walk! We still have just under a month left to go and we've already gone above and beyond! I set our goal this year at almost double what we earned last year and I am absolutely amazed and touched at the amount of support that we've received so far. And we still have some time to go! Thank you to everyone that has supported Team Alexis Noelle through donations, love and prayers. It really means more than I can ever begin to say. Seriously, every time I look at my daughter, I will never forget the meaning behind the reason that we walk.

So, next thing on our agenda before the walk is that Alexis and I are headed to Bakersfield at the end of the month! I am beyond excited for it! It was kind of a last minute thing but my little sister Brianna is turning 15 and she's having a quincenerra the last weekend in April. They weren't quite sure that it was going to happen but we finally got word that it was a green light. And I won't even try to pretend that I was summoned down to come... my dad called and said that Alexis better be down there for the event! Work has been crazy for me lately but I knew I had to make it happen. I don't want Alexis to miss a minute more than she has to of getting to know that side of her. And they all bonded to her so much during the time we were there last October that I want to be sure she doesn't forget a thing. The only downside... Jason won't be able to come. He had some work conflicts that just couldn't be ignored. So it will be me, Alexis and Uncle Andre. And I can already anticipate a crazy flight with a little lady that doesn't want to sit still for a second! Andre has been warned and bribed into helping me out. Above all, my family is so incredibly excited that we're coming down that any amount of flying with a toddler is more than worth it! I can't wait to give my dad, my brother, my siblings, my aunt, my cousins, my whole family a big hug! And I really can't wait to see Alexis with them. Last time, it took me a good couple of days to emotionally recover from the feeling and the sight of seeing my precious one bond with family that I absolutely adore and miss so much. As much as it hurts to recover from that, I love being able to feel so much emotion from loving my family so much. We are very lucky!

Almost to Spring!

Since my last post, we finally made that long awaited turn to daylight savings time in Seattle! Although its been incredible having that extra hour of daylight, the winter weather has seemed to stick around a little bit longer. Last Tuesday, we even had 2 inches of snow! Weird!

But today was a beautiful, sunny Friday. Can't ask for too much more when you leave a job that you love on a Friday afternoon, the sun shining in your face, knowing you're heading home to a family that you adore more than you can even say. God is good!

Over the last few weeks, we've been staying busy! Last weekend, we made our first trip of the year to Packwood and stayed at Grandpa and Grandma's cabin. It was nice because on Friday, we got there and it was just us. The nice thing about Packwood is that it is less than 2 hours away. So we got off of work just a few hours early and then hit the road and got there before dark. Once Alexis went down for bed, Jason and I had a moment to enjoy the fire and nice glass of champagne to ourselves. My dad said the reason he bought property in Packwood is that it was close enough that you could go any weekend you want, but far enough away that it still felt "far away." Boy, was he right! Definitely felt like we were away from the hustle and bustle. Can't wait to go back!

Here are some of our pics:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.705348154805.2133677.32402181&type=1&l=1b07e8da92

Alexis had her 18 month appointment earlier this month. The great news - she is officially discharged from children's therapy! They typically follow up most NICU babies for a year, but with Alexis' scary start, they wanted to do follow ups with her for 2 years. However, we have had a exceptionally perfect report card every time we have gone (about every 3 months since birth). And this usually follows up with a pretty hefty bill afterwards! Of course, we want to make sure that Alexis is up to par with everything so its a bill that we will always gladly pay if needed... but given her history, we weren't quite sure this was needed any longer. At her 18 month appointment with Dr. Lauinger, she confirmed that not only is Alexis up to speed by her terms, but she is measuring ahead in some areas! She gave us the green light to go ahead and stop childrens therapy follow ups for now and if needed in the future, we'll of course go back. So far, that doesn't look like it is in the cards! But good to know that they are always there, just in case!

The only bad news at Alexis' appointment - she continues to struggle gaining weight! We had this same issue a few appointments ago. Her doctor isn't too concerned but gave us the same instructions in giving her fatty foods and also trying to lower her milk intake a bit. She LOVES her soy milk so she wants us to give her a little bit less in hopes she will eat just that much more solids. Ultimately, she's not worried because she is growing like a weed in height and head circumference! Only her weight is lagging a bit. But coupled with her increased activity and genetic make-up, doctor isn't concerned. We were just sent away with another report to "fatten her up!" Believe me, we're all trying! Even Alexis is doing her part in eating like a little piglet. Just can't seem to get any more meat on her bones. Maybe now that summer is coming up, the BBQs will catch up to her!

Man, just the word BBQs makes me think of summer and gets me excited for the sunny days ahead! The past few days were nice enough to bring the swarm of kids in our neighborhood out into our cul-de-sac... the neighbor girls came over to play with Alexis and and she was a bit shy at first. But then followed them around! I'm so happy she'll have 3 girls in the two houses just next door to our left to play with! And then there are 2 little boys just about a year or so older than her to our right... they could be trouble! =)

Alexis is just amazing. She can say the words and point out to you her eyes, nose, ears, belly, hair, feet, hands and fingers. And also, yes, she can say and point out... her butt. And I almost wish I could say she learned this one from daycare. But no, it was all us. Mom and dad. I think she heard us say it once for some reason or another and then repeated it. And when we heard her say it and thought it was funny, it made her laugh... and then us laugh... and then her... its a vicious circle. Basically it ended with somehow Alexis learning that "butt" is a funny word and now she says it and laughs, knowing that it will make us laugh! Boy, was this a big lesson for mom and dad that not only will she pick up words that we say (not even TEACH her, she just hears them and repeats them!) but she also seems to know which words that she is not supposed to say! And of course, those are the ones that she wants to say!

I am so proud of my amazing, perfect little daughter. She is more amazing, more precious, more beautiful and smarter than I ever dreamed possible! Among all that she's conquered thus far, she continues to break down barriers and tell the doctors that she will be living life on her own terms, not theirs and not what the medical journals may have predicted for her. With her birth story, she's supposed to be just learning to handle a cup or gaining interest in blocks? Um, no thank you! I would like to be running wild and free all the while pronouncing all of my words just fine, thank you. And I would like those words to include "butt" and I will even emphasize the "TT" - thank you very much! That's my girl. =)

What's next on our calendar?

Well, on our immediate March of Dimes calendar... we have a quick kick-off event on April 4th in the morning at the Fed Ex Headquarters. They really enjoyed our speech at the main kick-off event on February 29th that they asked we join them for their personal company event on the 4th! What an honor!

Also, Jason and I just booked a mini-getaway that we're pretty excited about! We're headed to Las Vegas over Memorial Day weekend! it will be our first weekend away without Alexis. She will be heading back to Packwood for the weekend with my dad and Brenda while we hit Sin City. Of course it will be hard to be without with sweet angel that weekend, but I am really looking forward to a nice weekend away with just me and my hubby! And Grandpa and Grandma are very much looking forward to their weekend with Alexis!

This trip is kind of a coming of age trip for a lot of us... we're actually going to Las Vegas with my little sister, who turns 21 on April 7th, my little brother who turns 30 on June 15th and my mom and her husband, Larry. So we're going to celebrate my sis' 21st birthday, my brother's 3oth birthday and for us, well, its kind of last trip to remind us that we can be both parents (and pretty kick ass parents if I must say so myself!) and we can also have just a few days to be both what we started out as - just Jason and I. We wanted just one short weekend away together before we start to put our minds on possibly trying to add another little mini-Selden to our bunch! I'm so excited! We're only going Friday - Sunday so its a pretty short trip... couldn't possibly be away from my little Lexi longer than that, but it will be a very memorable trip, I can already tell!

First girls road trip!

Last weekend, Alexis and I took our first girls only road trip! We left for Bellingham to visit my sister at school and also to hear her perform! My sister plays in a band called Red Lanai with two other girls, and now two guys, and I have missed all of her performances so far. This time, she had a show on a Saturday and I wasn't going to miss it!

She is so talented - she has played the piano since she was a little girl but has taught herself to play the guitar, ukelele and most recently, the drums! Her performance was increadible!!! They are so good! The concert was at a church and the money raised will help to send somme of the kids on their mission trips during spring break. It was more of a sit down performance. So this meant a limited amount of actual concert viewing for Alexis and I. We sat in the front row and when Red Lanai first started playing, Alexis got up and started dancing like she owned the show! It was hilarious! Then, she began flirting with a little boy in the pew to the left of us. She was dancing around and kept getting in his face and sayin "hi!!!!" He wasn't that amused. Then, she tried waving "hi!" to Aunt Lyndsey while she was trying to perform. Once she tried to actually walk on stage and mess with the cords to their guitars, then I decided it was time for us to enjoy the show from the back! Needless to say, we both completely enjoyed the show and we are so proud of Lyndsey and how talented she is. It is so heart warming as a big sister to see her really come into her own and find her own path in life. I suppose that is what a big part of college is all about and she seems to be doing just that!

Since we had just came home from being gone the whole weekend before that in Mt. Hood, Jason stayed home so that he could get things back in order at the house. Which meant that Alexis and I had a girls weekend away. Oh, how I look forward to a lifetime of our girl moments bonding together! Of course, we have a very strong family unit. But I also know that Jason and Alexis have their own special bond that I could never be a part of. And Alexis and I also have a bond of our very own that is made just that more special because we're both girls and I get to show her the ropes of becoming a girl and then a woman. What an amazing feeling!

One of those things is that I hope for a lifetime of girls outings with just Alexis and I (well, and of course any others if we have more daughters!). So Alexis and I took to the road and drove up to Bellingham together. We met my mom and her hubby Larry up there and we all stayed in a hotel (adjacent rooms). It was so much fun! Just me and my baby girl. And grandma and grandpa just next door. When we arrived on Saturday, we took a nice walk down at the park in Bellingham along Bellingham Bay. What a gorgeous place! But cold! It even snowed the next day!



I'm sure dad enjoyed having a night to himself. As much as we all hold our loved ones so dear, we all need our alone time! But we were all sure excited to see each other again on Sunday afternoon! Even Lola greeted us with a big pink tongue to say she missed us. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder. =)

Last Monday, our dear friends Dylan and Kalimar had their third child - a baby boy, Anthony Richard! We can't wait to meet him! Another life long buddy for Alexis and our family.

Our other big event this week was the Corporate Team Kick-Off Event for the March of Dimes on Wednesday, February 29th, leap year! This was a breakfast event with the corporate sponsors of the MOD... and we had to get up and speak at this one, so it was a little more nerve-building than our others! But it was great - we had some wonderful family support, my mom/Larry, Crystle and Karen.



And the whole MOD team was so happy to have us there. Plus, I've been waiting since September 2, 2010 to shout our story from the rooftops. And I'd finally have the chance!



The breakfast was great, absolutely wonderful. And before the breakfast even started, we met so many wonderful people. Once the breakfast started, I knew I would lose it. They started with a slide show of the walk and the meaning behind it.



Totally lost it at the table. But I did a great job of hiding it! Didn't want to go to the podium a hot mess! The event was hosted by Julie Francavilla of KIRO 7 news... there was a great agenda and then she introduced our family. Our talk was split in two parts; I went first, and then Jason. And surprisingly, he had much more speaking words than I did! I guess I assumed that they would have me speak more since MOD is also about pregnancy and they would want to hear from the part of us that contributed the pregnancy part! But actually, it makes much more sense to hear more from Jason.

Once things got underway for our story, I was either knocked out completely or I was pretty out of it and don't remember a vast majority of what happened. Jason on the other hand, remembers every single moment and every single second. And he was even pushed to the side for much of it in the beginning when they weren't sure what was going to happen to either Alexis or I. Of course, this was for the best of everyone involved. But, I can't even imagine being in Jason's shoes when the two most intricate parts of your life are whisked away to an unknown place and uncertain future and you can't do anything about it? Yeah, i think that's a story that Jason has deserved to tell for quite some time.

The speeches went great! As far as mine, well I was just proud that I didn't bawl my eyes out! I warned our audience beforehand that that was a possibility, but even though I had the voice of someone who sounds like they're about to break down, I didn't. And I feel very good about the message I sent across.

And Jason? Well, I am just so very proud to have such an incredible husband and an amazing role model for my children. What a great feeling to see my partner in life, standing in front of a group of bigwig corporates, talking about our family in a way that both exudes compassion and love but also connects to them in a way that brings attention to the cause at hand. Not to mention that he just looked so handsome standing up there in a tie! So proud!




One of the coolest things about this is that after the event was over, we had a lot of people come up and talk to us about their own personal stories. I know at the corporate kick-off, a lot of people are there because their employer participates in the event, so they do too. Which of course it is always great to have support from whatever calling brings a person there! But it was so wonderful to hear from people that are also there for a personal connection! And so warming to feel that they could come share with us too! It is definitely great to hear - every story is different and unique in its own way. I love hearing how God and life has touched each person. And as someone who has a story to share, it is a great feeling to talk to other people who know the feeling, even if the circumstances aren't exactly the same. The breakfast made me that much more excited for the walk in May!



And lastly, our precious Alexis turned 18 month today! Absolutely no words. She is such a blessing to our family and almost everyone that she comes across. Her new favorite thing of this week is that she's learned to get up on the kitchen chair and wants to just sit at the table. At first, she wanted to climb on top of the table but we're slowly learning that she needs to sit on the chair! Oh, to be a toddler and want to climb everything! It's so cute though - she will just sit on the chair for about 20 minutes and do nothing but just sit there. Just because she's a big girl and can! It takes every ounce of muscle in her body to resist climbing on the table though, even though I think she gets that she's not supposed to. Kathleen our daycare provider has said that she enjoys climbing much more than almost any of the other kids that she's had come through her daycare before. Yikes. Luckily, mom has found a Mom and Me gymnastics program at Metropolitan Gymnastics in Kent that meets on Saturday mornings... I'm fairly certain we'll be enrolling in this soon!