April 18

When Jax was born on December 18, I knew if I could make it until about April 18, I would be okay. Well, I made it. Or, I should say, WE (Ajax, Jonathan, and I) made it. It was another crazy semester of law school, but it was my last one. I graduate on Friday. I finished my last final on Monday. As I walked out of the classroom and up to my office to pick up my baby from his babysitter, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment and joy. But it wasn't because I had just finished law school. It was because I had a sweet, darling baby to hold, and a handsome, loving husband to go home to. They are my biggest accomplishments, and I am so proud to be Jonathan's wife and Ajax's mom. 

Okay! Well, Ajax is 4 months old today! Last week, at his 4 month checkup, we finally got his stats. He is about the 90th percentile for both height and weight. He is a big kid--definitely a Schroath! 

The biggest thing we did this last month was drive down to St. George over Easter weekend so we could relax and so Ajax could meet his great-grandparents on my side of the family. 

One morning we went to breakfast at Paradise Bakery, and then on a hike.

The weekend Jonathan and I got engaged, we went to St. George to relax and go hiking. Above St. George are red cliffs. We hiked around there, and Jonathan carved our initials into the rock. (Romantic, yes?) Now, whenever we go back, it's fun to hike up there and find it. This time, we took Ajax with us!

We strapped him into the baby carrier, and off we went!

More than five years later, and it's still there. 

We had to take a break so Jax could have a bottle. And then we just basked in the warm sun for a while.

I'm sure this will be a family tradition for many years to come.

The real reason we went to St. George was so we could introduce my grandparents to Ajax. Both my Dad and my Mom's parents live there, which makes it easy. We try to switch off who we stay with, so this time it was with my Mom's parents--the Pace's.

Ajax with Great-Grandma Pace...

And Great-Grandpa Pace!

We still spent plenty of time with my Dad's parents--the Schroath's. They always treat (and feed!) us well, and this trip was no exception. We had a great time talking and visiting with them, and seeing my Uncle Mike and Aunt Toni and their kids (although I didn't take any pictures of them....oops). Actually, I really should have taken a lot more photos while we were with them. I only have two. :( Next time!

Ajax with Great-Grandma Schroath...

And Great-Grandpa Schroath!

While we were in St. George, Ajax also got to meet my Aunt Lucinda (my Mom's sister) and her husband Kelly...

As well as my cousin Candice and her family (who I also neglected to take pictures with... fail).

One of my Grandma Pace's favorite things to do is hunt for bargains at garage sales and thrift stores. I found some nice skirts, clothes for Ajax, and some nice blue pillows for our couch.

On Saturday morning we went to a big garage sale and found some nice lights to put on the garage of our house. Jonathan wanted to get this beauty, but I'm not sure it would have made it home:

My Grandma also helped me put together this fun jar of colorful fruit. She has a huge one in her kitchen, and thought I might like one too, so she got the materials and we put it all together. It looks great in my kitchen!

On Saturday evening, some family came over to the Pace's for an Easter egg hunt: Candice, her husband Tad, and their kids, Wes and Scarlett, Aunt Lucinda and Uncle Kelly, and my mom's cousin Ronna, her husband Travis, and their kids. Even amid all of the chaos, Ajax (and Jonathan) managed to find an egg. I guess it helped that we were the ones who hid them! Ha. 

If you can't tell, I'm the one behind the camera a lot. And I love taking photos of my boys. I'm not even sorry.

They are pretty cute, if I may say so myself.

On Sunday morning, the Easter bunny found us! This was our family basket. Grandma Schroath (my mom) sent some candy, an outfit, and a bunny for Ajax. And Jonathan and I got some candy and some seeds so we can plant a garden. 

Holidays are already more fun with a kid. I can't wait until next year when he can walk and find eggs and all that! Ajax especially liked his soft, furry bunny.

Jonathan helped the bunny come to life. :)

We met Grandma Pace in the living room, and she went through the Easter basket with Ajax, showing him how everything felt and sounded. He thought that was pretty fun!

I completely failed to take pictures of us all in our Easter clothes. Blast. Grandma and I even wore beautiful hats that we found when we went thrifting. Oh well.

While I made Easter dinner, Grandpa Pace talked with Ajax. Ajax loves to talk and babble. He might turn out just as social as his grandpa!

I'm not quite sure where these pictures fit in, but I thought I'd share them anyway. Both of my grandparents have beautiful houses in St. George. But I only remembered to take pictures of the Pace's home. Someone else really should take the camera from me. I forget too many things. Anyway. Here is the front of the house.

And here is the backyard, complete with basketball hoop, a small stream, and a gazebo.

And this is the view from the house. Not bad, right? It may even be more amazing at night. If you look close, you can see the beautiful white temple in the middle of the city.

It was a lovely weekend, but then it was back to real life! Luckily, real life is pretty great too.

Ajax is still biting everything like crazy. He is just starting to be able to grab toys and (in true baby fashion) put them in his mouth. His favorite toy has been, and I expect will be for a while, his monkey. But sometimes, that also means that his monkey takes the worst of it all. Can't wait until he gets teeth...

We are also introducing Ajax to some of our favorite things, like BYU Football.

The football is easy for him to grab and hold onto since its full of holes.

And, of course, we have already started to introduce him to Doctor Who, starting with the Tardis. 

The most fun thing about this last month is that we can now consistently get Ajax to laugh! It's our new favorite thing to do. His laugh is contagious, and we love finding new ways to make him giggle.

I have so many favorite things that I love about Ajax. I love it when he talks to me. I love his smiles. I love his soft baby hair. I love his strong legs. I love it when he rolls over. I love his sighs when he is asleep. I love his milk breath. I love it when he holds onto me tight. I love his laugh. I love the noise he makes after he sneezes. Most of all, I love that he loves me for no other reason than that I'm his Mom.

I definitely think the time is going by too fast. But it's so much fun to see him grow and learn new things! Today, we get to start introducing him to real food! We'll start with different kinds of cereals, and then move on to vegetables, and finally fruits, introducing something new every three days. I cannot wait to give him his first taste of cereal today. I'll be sure and video tape it so you can see it next month!