Cuteness!

I finally uploaded a bunch of videos of our baby joy. Enjoy!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

This time of year I always try to remember why we are really celebrating. This year I've reached this new found understanding of just how big of a deal it was that God gave up his Son to redeem us all. I always knew it, but I've had a major A-HA! moment. I just can't imagine being strong enough to do that. I've also been thinking of Mary, the mother of Christ. What a strong woman she must have been. To be able to raise the Son of God and then to have watched as he was tortured and crucified. I can't imagine being that strong. This has all been in the back of my mind as we've set up our tree and prepared for Christmas festivities. I am grateful for my Savior and for His sacrifice.

That being said, we are completely ready for the holiday! My Christmas shopping is done and the presents are wrapped and under the tree! James loves Christmas, although he isn't fond of the cold weather. I'm sure next year will be different when he can play in the snow. I've always loved Christmas, but now that we have James it's just so much more meaningful and FUN!

This year's Hallmark on the left (Baby's First Christmas) and James' footprint ornament on the right.

Our pretty tree!

I made our stockings. Except for James'. I had this one since I was a kid and just put a poinsettia on it to match the others.

I sit him in front of the tree so he can see the lights and reach for things. He loves pulling the bows off the presents. Such a cutie!

Little stinker tried to pull Santa's beard. Santa didn't seem to be very amused...or jolly for that matter. But James didn't cry and wasn't scared of him at all.

Happy Christmas!

First Thanksgiving

We hosted our very first Thanksgiving this year and it was so great! I didn't grow up liking Thanksgiving. It wasn't a very big thing at our house. We used to decorate for Christmas and eat at a buffet, so this gave me a real appreciation for the holiday. Paul made the turkey (he stuffed it full of onions, celery, carrots, apples, oranges and lemons and seasonings and chicken stock. It was sooooooo moist and delicious. I've been living off of it for days.
I made Lion House pumpkin pie, apple crumb pie, cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce, Grandma Willardson's frozen dessert, and a delicious sweet potato bake. We did the whole thing from scratch and it turned out fabulous.
This year we have so much to be thankful for. We have a beautiful, healthy little boy, a job, a place to live, the gospel, friends and family who love us and so much more. Life can be hard sometimes, but through it all we have been so blessed. We don't forget this or the Lord's the hand in our lives.

I should have taken a picture of the apple pie also, but...I was busy.


We set our table to send a picture to Paul's grandma. She gave us this beautiful table as a wedding gift. We ended up using paper plates to cut down on dishes, but it sure is pretty :)

Paul's fantastic turkey.

Sampler plate of everything.

My little man is growing up so fast. He was a very patient while we cooked and baked.

All Good

We have been truly blessed this week. We had been very stressed out about the job situation, school standing, and James' health. We have truly felt the prayers of our family and friends. On Sunday our home teacher came over and gave Paul a blessing. It really eased our minds and helped to prepare us for the week.

James had his ultrasound on Monday. The Radiologist knew right away that everything was ok. That right there was stress relieving. I don't know what I would have done had something been really wrong. Poor little kid didn't enjoy the ultrasound AT ALL. He screamed and carried on. Holding a 20 pound squirmy baby in place for 10 minutes is harder than you might think! At that point I tried not to be stressed about the other things (although this was difficult also).

The test that Paul had been studying for was hard, but he got a 92! After his test he went to his second interview. He came out feeling confident. The interviewer told him that out of the 120 applicants for the job it came down to him and one other guy and that we would know within 24 hours if he got the job.

This afternoon we were just about to take a nap to take our minds off of the job situation when his phone rang. He got the job!! We have been so blessed this week it's unbelievable. This job comes with full state benefits and will pay for tuition for us both (at UVU so I'll be doing some classes there and transferring them to BYU...hey, it's FREE). I'm so happy and relieved tonight. I feel like we've been so stressed out lately and now that things have calmed down we're emotionally exhausted. Nothing like a great Thanksgiving weekend to get some much needed rest and relaxation!

Five Months!

Where does the time go? James is 5 months old! He's growing so fast and is such a big boy! He is 26 inches and 19 pounds. I feel blessed every day to be his mom.

This is his favorite toy. It's an octopus with rattles and other baby things hanging off of it.

He despises tummy time. I keep telling him that he has to go through this if he wants to learn to crawl, but he just screams louder.

He "helps" me do the laundry. Mostly he'll just grab at whatever I'm trying to fold, but he stays quiet and amused.

Jumperoo!

His newest habit: finger chewing.

Now that he can actually reach his feet he rarely lets go of them.

He likes cups.

He loves to hide under blankets. If he gets anywhere near a blanket he'll pull it over his head and growl and squeal and giggle until we "find" him.

I love his chunky hands! He grabs for absolutely everything and puts it straight into his mouth. He is just so adorable and we love him so much.

Halloween

I've never been a huge Halloween fan...until I saw James in his costume. We handed out candy for Halloween this year! It's the first time we've been able to and while it probably sounds dumb, it was a lot of fun. Paul carved a pumpkin and James guarded the candy. He's such a cute Pooh!

He was growling in this one. He cracks me up. Every morning when he wakes up he gives us his biggest grin and growls away.

Paul was so proud of his pumpkin! `

And this is not Halloween, but it's cute:

Despite the mess he's a really good eater. He LOVES sweet potatoes. :)

Weekend Adventures

We had a fantastic weekend! First, Paul let me sleep until noon. That alone made my whole day so much better. It was such a gorgeous day that we decided to take a drive. We drove to South Ridge Farms and got some cider and doughnuts. I'd never had this combination before if you can believe that. The hot cider doughnuts were pretty much to die for. We also picked out a pumpkin. I've never seen it so packed! The line was out the door, but it was well worth it. James fell asleep as soon as we got back in the car and so we decided to go for a scenic drive and took on the whole Nebo Loop! I had no idea how long it was, and at 9,000 feet the views were breathtaking. I wish I had taken more pictures of the maple trees. It's so beautiful right now. If you live in Utah and have never driven it before, I would highly suggest taking the trip. James also had the pleasure of meeting his great grandmother, and my only living grandparent. Grammamom came out last week and we've enjoyed spending some time with her. It was her first time seeing James so it was really fun :)

James in the pumpkin patch.

That's Timp in the distance. We were up HIGH!

A hawk on a rock.

4 Generations!