The New Rules at the Zoo!

I almost forgot to tell you the hilarious conversation we had yesterday in my pre-k class at MDO. Thomas, my 5-year-old nephew, and his best friend, a hilarious girl who says something funny every day, are in my class. We were going to the zoo yesterday, so I got them all in a circle before we left to tell them the zoo rules. I said, "We need to stay together. Even if you want to run to the next exhibit, you have to stay with the group and wait patiently." Another funny girl said in her adorable 5-year-old voice, "Yeah...if you run off, you could die!". I corrected her, saying it's just not safe. Then, Thomas's friend chimes in and says, "And no saying bad words, like D****T!" Really loudly at that! Some kids laughed, but some more innocent kids didn't know what she was saying. The other mother who was in the room had to leave because she was laughing! Thomas then says, "And no saying butt!", to which his friend replies, "Yeah, you can say belly-button or bunky!". I stopped that conversation right there, but all the teachers got a big laugh out of it that day!

Photo Session with my 11 1/2 month old

21 Days of NO COMPLAINING!

Did any of you see Oprah yesterday about going 21 days without complaining? You might have heard about it somewhere else, too. If not, google Oprah to read about it, or go to www.acomplaintfreeworld.org. Well, it inspired me to TRY this, so I'm going to start right now! They say that it really makes a huge difference when it's all over. 21 days from now (April 18) I'm going to report back, or if I mess up, and then I'll have to start over. I have no bracelet, so I'll just have to think even harder about it. If you would like to do this with me, please comment and let me know. I would LOVE it, and I think it would help. Alright...ready, set, go!

My Blog Friends!

I saw this on someone's blog and found it really interesting, especially since there are so many crazy "small world" connections discovered all the time through blogs! This is how I know (or don't know) everyone on my "Blogs I Frequent" list...

Alyssa- friend from church in Dallas
Amanda N- best friend from HU
Amanda W- best friend from HU, also suitmates for two years
Audrey- blog friend through Corrie, we've never met
Aunt Jayne- Josh's aunt, his dad's sister, great inspirational blog
Corrie- blog friend through Nicki, ran into eachother at the mall once and again at Nicki's baby shower
Elizabeth- my big sis, met almost 27 years ago
Emily- AmandaW's little sister
Erica- friend from church in Dallas
Erin- good friend of my sister-in-law Jilinda's, met at Michael and Jilinda's wedding, mother of triplets
Gavin- friend of a good family friend, Kristen; we've never met
Jamie- Kim's sister-in-law, met at Kim's wedding
Jennifer- Kim's sister-in-law, met at Kim's wedding
Jennifer Y- our husbands were in the same group of friends at HU, met her through Kim
Jessica- Kim's sister-in-law, met at Kim's wedding
Jim- my preacher now, awesome blog
Jo Anna- my sister-in-law, Josh's sister
Kelly S- friend from HU
Kelly T- friend from working at Care Net (also my Mary Kay lady)
Kim- best friend from HU, also suitmates for two years
Kristen- family friends for 16 years, our moms are best friends
Kristy- friend from HU
Lindsey- friend from HU
Lisa- friend from church in Dallas, met through small group
MDM- blog friend through Elizabeth, we've never met
Max- friend of Josh's at HU
Micah- friend from HU, was killed in Iraq
Narissa- Kim's mama
Nicki- high school best friend, reconnected when I moved back
Ose- Kim's mother-in-law
Rachel M- AmandaW's friend from where they live now, we've never met
Rachel V- AmandaW's friend from way back, went to HU w/ her for a year
Rebecca- friend from church here
Ryan- Josh's friend from church growing up
SG- friend of Elizabeth's, church friend here
Suzanne- best friend from church since 6th grade, HU suitmates for 2 years, preggo with quads now
Tiffany N- high school friend
Tiffany P- friend from church in Dallas, met through small group
Tracy- blog friend through Elizabeth (they used to go to church together), see her at MDO

Well that's it! I'd love to know how you know your blog friends!

James's Weekend

Here are some videos of James from this weekend. In the first one, I'm trying to get him to do some of his tricks. I taught him some of the motions to itsy bitsy spider, and he recently started doing a couple of them. On the "down came the rain" part, he'll raise his hands up, and during "washed the spider out" he'll put his hands together and sometimes put them back out. I got so excited the first few times he'd do this and would clap for him. While I was filming this, he started clapping for himself during that part! Babies can be so funny! Don't you wish you could clap for yourself every once in a while?! :)



This next one is of him having fun in the swing yesterday. He is SO happy in his swing and loves the breeze in his face. I really think he laughs in a silly way to make us laugh. You might notice that he says "bwee!" a lot. That is his word of the week and he says it all day long. Last night we put him down at 6:45 and he slept until 8:00 this morning. Then we heard him talking to himself for about 30 minutes, saying "bwee" a lot. I would LOVE to get into his mind and figure out what he's saying!

Hard-core Peek-a-boo!

 

Trip to Italy!

Josh and I just took a week long trip to Florence, Italy, through Josh's work and had an absolutely incredible time! No, we didn't take James, and although it was hard at times, I'm so glad we got to go off on our own for a few days and enjoy such a romantic city together!
Our wonderful mothers and Elizabeth traded off taking care of him, which we are SO incredibly thankful for. It got hard the last couple of nights, when we'd look at his pictures or talk to them on the phone and hear stories about him, but we just tried not to think about him and were able to relax and know that he was in great hands!
I studied abroad in Florence for three months, Summer of 2000, and had the time of my life. Florence is my favorite city in the world, so I have been DYING to go back and show everything to Josh. The weather couldn't have been prettier, which we were not expecting, but Spring decided to come a little early there! The traveling to and from was exhausting, but it was worth every second of the 22 hours to get there and 24 hours to get back. We spent 4 1/2 days in the city and made one small trip to Chianti, a town in the Italian countryside known for its vineyards and olive trees.
We stayed at a hotel on the beautiful Arno River that was a couple of blocks away from the Ponte Vecchio (the only bridge in the city that wasn't destroyed during WWII). One of the many things I love about the city is it is small, but gorgeous, so you can walk everywhere you go and see beautiful or historically significant things on every corner. It's incredibly romantic with sidewalk cafes and serenaders, a great place to shop, and has delicious food! One of the best things about Florence to me is the people and culture. I love our country, but we could learn a few things from them.
Everywhere you go, everyone is SO relaxed, never in a hurry, enjoying each other's company, savoring their meals, and respectful of other people. You have to get in a different frame of mind there, and not go to a restaurant when you're in a hurry! We are a lot louder and much more impatient than they are. That was one thing they told us the summer I studied there, is that they look down upon loud conversations, and sure enough we'd get looks when we'd start giggling too loudly! We had to wait for 30 extra minutes on a bus one day and the three American couples were complaining the ENTIRE time, opening windows, fanning themselves. I looked around and not one Italian said a thing or even had a look of frustration! Don't get me wrong, they could learn a few things from us too, and I was SO happy to be back in our country last night, but I will miss that! We were in awe of the gorgeous cathedrals, famous sculptures by Michelangelo at the Academy, and incredible paintings by the greats at the Uffizi Gallery. My favorite moments of the trip were strolling slowly around the beautiful piazzas with Josh, actually getting to hold his hand instead of juggling a 24 pound baby, diaper bag, and stroller! We savored every second of that, but we were also so excited and ready to come back and be on diaper duty again! It was SOOOO hard to not wake up James last night when we got in, but we were deliriously exhausted and thought we all needed our sleep. I practically ran into his room this morning when he woke up and was scared he'd be mad at me, but he was so happy to see us! He really changed in the week we were gone, and is talking even bigger now! It's amazing how quickly they change!

11 Months!

I'm slightly in denial that he's 11 months old, because it sounds so much older to me than 10 months. 11 months might as well be a year. I'm excited about him coming up on a year, but it's bittersweet. I didn't realize a year would creep up so quickly! James has done so much changing this month. His personality is coming out, and he is making known to the world who he is!

We've discovered this month that he is quite determined! He will figure out how to get what he wants, and no one will stand in his way! I asked his MDO teachers how his personality was compared to the other babies, and the first thing they said was determined!

He's opinionated. He has learned that there are other options out there, and he'll make known what it is he wants. He always fights us now going into the high chair. He never screams, he just arches his back, puts out his legs, and raises his arms. It is HARD to fight him, because he is as strong as an ox!

He's still a cuddle bug. Our favorite thing right now is how when you pick him up and he wants to snuggle, he will tuck him arms into us as tightly as he can. He hugs you when you pick him up, and he cuddles when we put him down to sleep, looking up at us with the sweetest eyes!

He went through the stranger anxiety stage recently, but has come out of it. Lately, if someone holds out their arms, he lunges for them. If it's someone he doesn't know very well, he will study them.

He's a happy baby. The only time he's in a bad mood is after his afternoon nap. That's when we go outside and play, because being outside makes his mood immediately change! I'm so happy it's warmer and we can do this now!

He's saying new sounds and experimenting more and more with pitch. It really sounds like he's speaking a foreign language very expressively. He also like to mimic us.

He's a picky eater. Or maybe he's just going through a phase, but he is not wanting much of what we give him lately!

He's very friendly when we're out and about and will talk and wave to anybody who will give him attention.


He's funny. I can't describe this one too well, but he just loves it when we're silly with him and laughs in the funniest way, sometimes in such a grown-up way that cracks us up. His favorite way to get around the house is to wall-walk. He's so fast that it's hard to keep up with him. When he's about to enter another room, he looks back and gives a mischievous smile. When I start going to get him, he speeds up! Sometimes he just giggles for no reason. It sounds like his invisible friend is telling him jokes!

He's tough. I say this, but he rarely ever gets hurt. He's very sure-footed, and has figured out pretty well how to not get hurt.

He's observant. He has to see everything that's going on!

He's walking better now! He even turned a corner! (Amazing what we mother's get excited about!) :)

(Btw, notice how I take a lot of pictures of him in his stroller? That one of the only times he is calm and still enough to snap him!)

That's my little man in a nutshell! Next time I do his monthly update, there will probably be some tears and a knot in my stomach!

video of James walking

Mary Beth had just gotten in trouble and was being a bit of a drama queen, so it is a little chaotic, but we got it!


Go to Elizabeth's blog to see a cute video we made of Mary Beth!

First Steps!

James is taking his first steps!! I am completely shocked that he is doing this, because I really didn't see it coming. I thought that it was going to be a long, drawn out process of him standing for a long time first, then maybe one step, then two, etc. Yesterday, at Elizabeth's house, he took a couple of really quick steps, and I thought it might have just been a fluke. Then, he did it a few more times last night and this morning. At Mother's Day Out today, I was going to go into the nursery to tell them that if he looked like he was about to start walking, come get me. Well, I walked up to the door and I heard, "Yea, James!!! He just took about 10 steps!!!". I walked in and he did it again for me with the cutest little baby steps! I am going to try to get him on camera for you, but he's resting now.

These pictures have nothing to do with him walking, but they were taken a couple of weeks ago and I never posted them! In the first picture, he's wearing one of my brother's old outfits.

Eatin', Sleepin', and Playin'

Still sleepy after his Sunday afternoon nap.
















A rare moment...me loving it!





















Josh feeding James, James making his pitiful about-to-cry face about something















the way James has to sleep...head buried, hiney high in the air, feet crossed















James and I had quite an indepth conversation this afternoon. He had a lot on his mind!

Please check out one of my best friends, Suzanne's blog, and please keep them in your prayers!