Some Pictures

James has been falling asleep everywhere. His favorite spot is his high chair though. He spends a lot of time in it. When I cook dinner I just face him towards me so he can see what I'm doing but can't get into anything.

Splashing! He loves bathtime. Sometimes he just hangs out next to the bathtub until I give him a bath.

He's also quite the musician! I cannot wait until I can get my own piano!

My latest project. My cousin, Wendy, gave me a set similar to this when I had James.  I made these burp clothes and bib for my friend, Carey. I hope she loves them as much as I do! I'm also working on some girly ones for my sister-in-law who is expecting this month!

Lately

I feel like February just flew by and I don't have much to show for it. After we got back from California we all caught a very nasty cold that lingered for weeks. Poor James had such a terrible time and was in the Dr.'s office constantly. Thank goodness that's over!  I spent a good week deep cleaning the condo just to get all traces of sickness out (and a bit of Spring cleaning, too!). 

Spring is here. Who knows if we'll have more snow or not, all I know is that there are buds on the trees and for right now the weather is warm! I love it. James and I have been frequenting the park this week.  I sit him in a swing and he just chills, almost falling asleep at times. I love being outside. Being holed up all winter does nothing for me.

       Such a cutie! I love this kid :)

Paul got me this amazing jogging stroller.

Isn't it awesome? I can plug my Zune into it and the speakers let James listen to music. It's awesome. James sings along while I get a workout. We have a gym in our clubhouse, but I'm never really able to use it. James fusses the whole time, which annoys the other people trying to work out. With Paul's busy schedule (6 am to 8:30 pm at school and work) he's not able to watch James for me, so this stroller is awesome.
James went in for his 9 month checkup! He's 22 pounds, 29 inches and healthy. He has 5 teeth, one of which is actually chipped already! Leave it to my kid to break his teeth before they're even all the way in. Yesterday he got into the pots and kept hitting himself in the head with my little saucepan. I sometimes wonder if little girls do the same thing, or if boys are just wired to get into trouble and use their tough little heads as explorative tools.

Some recent accomplishments:

First taste of toilet water (yuck!)

Discovery of toilet paper
Sits down by himself from standing position
Pulls himself up onto furniture
He is learning to back down off of furniture--but he still faceplants a lot
Has taken his first big boy bath in the tub and loves it
Uses his teeth to chew on anything and everything. My shoes have little teeth marks on them.
Climbs stairs like a pro
Sings constantly
Hasn't been a bad boy once when nursing since getting teeth
Uses his walker or walls to walk throughout the apartment
Dances to music--which I still need to get on video
Waves to people...and sometimes to himself.
Hits everything with his hands or other objects. He's definitely a boy!

We went to Cabella's to get a birthday present for my dad. That's a stuffed bear behind my boys.

James snagged a chunk of that cake for himself.  His Grandpa loves him.

 I helped my sisters dip pretzels for Roxanna's wedding last week. James loves his Aunt Roxi.

I found these awesome little baby feeder things at Target. The top is a mesh bag that you can fill with fresh food. He loves it, and I love that I don't have to worry about him choking!

Getting into things and landing himself in baby prison. He hates baby prison.

And finally, being a sweet little angel :)

Finally Home

We went to San Diego for my Aunt's funeral. Paul came home from work on Friday, took a nap and then we drove through the night to get there. James was an angel and slept the whole way.
It was the best funeral I've ever been to, which probably sounds weird.  My aunt was a truly amazing woman and it was sad that we all had to say goodbye to her, but each of our lives is at least a little better for knowing her. The spirit was so strong at her funeral. Paul and I were both touched by the spirit and prompted to live by her example. I'm glad that we were able to go and receive such a powerful example of how to live. After the funeral we decided to stay an extra day to rest and visit with family before driving back again. It ended up being a mini vacation for us, and our first family vacation. .

James absolutely LOVED the hotel pillows. He couldn't get enough of them for some reason. Also, after months of painful teething, James got his first tooth while we were in San Diego! yay for James!

Paul had never been to the San Diego temple, so we stopped by. Just as pretty as ever.

We also had to see the ocean while we were there, so we went to La Jolla and took a walk. SO gorgeous.  I was sad to come home to the winter of Utah (even though Spring is on its way...just not the same).

Such a cutie.

After driving around San Diego for a while we headed out to Aliso Viejo to visit with Paul's Aunt and Uncle. We lucked out because Paul's great uncle Harvey was there, so James got to meet them all.

On our way back to the hotel the car broke down on the freeway. The lights started blinking and the car just died. Paul started it up again and we were able to drive twenty more minutes to our hotel. It kind of ruined the plan for the night and we weren't sure when we were going to get home or how. We ended up ordering a nasty hotel pizza and trying to sleep.  In the morning we loaded up the car and checked out. We drove to the nearest dealership (because we just bought the car in Utah we had to go to a certified Dodge dealership to get it fixed to be reimbursed later) and as soon as we turned in the car died and they couldn't even start it up to move it.  Turns out the alternater was shot. We were told that we were very lucky to have gotten home safe the night before and that it was a miracle that we were able to get it to the dealership. We feel like the Lord was really watching out for us. Even though it really sucked, it could have been much worse. There was an outdoor mall right across the freeway so we spent the morning walking around. The weather was beautiful and if you have to be stranded somewhere, that's the place to be! 

At this point there was no way we would get home in time for Paul to go to work the next day, so we decided to do what we had planned to do that day before going home. And so we drove out to Aguanga, where I grew up. It was interesting to go back and see how things have changed. I hadn't been back there since my family moved 4 years ago. Here are my boys in front of our old home.

Before we left we stopped at my favorite taco shop for dinner. It was so delicious and James was cute as always.

The trip back home was very long. We didn't get home until the sun was rising and we were totally exhausted. We have a lot to be grateful for. Now to get back into the swing of things!

He's Mobile!

James is 7 months old. The worst part about having babies is that they grow up so fast. The best part of having babies is watching them grow up. I know it sounds funny, but every time James reaches a new milestone I can see how happy it makes him, which in return makes me happy. He is just so excited to progress and move forward. I love that about him. Children are such miracles. I think sometimes we take that for granted because we see so many kids around us all the time. Each one is special and different and so eager in their own ways. We were each like that once and so full of our own potential. Life is a miracle and I am so glad to be living it.

Here is James' first time crawling. So glad I got it on tape. He's much better at it now and is all over the place. He tends to go for the dirtiest things in the room, like shoes, doormats, etc. He got into my basket of pinecones, figured out how to open the entertainment center and get into movies, gets stuck under tables (this actually scares me--all those sharp corners!) and yet when he wants me or his daddy he refuses to crawl to us but prefers to scream and "swim" until we pick him up. I will never rest again. Ever. But I LOVE it.

A Very Merry Christmas

Christmas Baking

All of my sisters came over for our annual Christmas Cookie Day. Here are some pictures of the goodies we made.


My sister Roxanna made a manger scene out of her cookies. I thought it was cute.

And my sister Reanna made these morbid, scary cookies. As usual. My favorite would have to be the prune eye cookie though.

I got brave this year and made bon bons. I always thought they would be difficult to make, but these were so easy and fun! I love how they turned out.

Christmas Festivities

What a great Christmas we had this year! Thanks to some amazing family and friends James made out like a very spoiled little boy. We didn't know how great it was going to turn out because we woke up on Christmas Eve to a very cranky James. One of his eyes was swollen shut and oozing and he was totally miserable. We had plans to go to the annual Christmas movie with my family but ended up in Urgent Care instead. As it turned out the poor kid had a double ear infection that had spread to his eyes and throat. I felt so horrible because the only indication he had given that anything was remotely wrong was tugging at his ear a few days before. After that it was off to the pharmacy for antibiotics and ear drops. Add a dose of tylenol and he was peacefully sleeping in no time flat. We spent the rest of our day catering to the baby and later on we went for a drive and looked at Christmas lights. When we came home we watched Christmas movies before heading to bed.

His eyes were so sensitive to light on Christmas Eve that we had to put his sunglasses on inside the house! He was happier when they were on because he could still play.

James doesn't get how to open presents on his own. He loves to crinkle the paper, but when it came to actually opening them he needed a little help. We would help him unwrap a present, show it to him and then put it aside so he could open another one. This method really made him mad because we kept giving him toys and taking them away. About half way through he had had it with opening and just wanted to play, so Paul and I opened the rest and Paul put all the toys together.

After the medicine kicked in on Christmas Eve. You can still see that his left eye is red and puffy. Poor baby.

Great Grandma Cohoon sent him this sled. SO cute.


Christmas Morning

James got so many presents I don't think I could list them all, so here's a picture of his presents:

For Christmas this year we set a budget that PAUL didn't stick to. Stinker. He sold his books and added it to his budget without me knowing. He bought me a Franklin planner. And not just any planner, but a Jean Chatzky Financial planner! I am SO stoked about this gift. It may seem silly to some, but I currently have been organizing my life out of several binders and folders. Being able to have everything organized is such a relief. I LOVE my gift :) He also got me a box of chocolates. All caramels because they are the only ones I really like. I also got a couponizer (a coupon organizer) from my awesome almost-brother-in-law. Oh, and a sewing machine from my dad. I'm SO excited to finally have a sewing machine. I can not wait to try it out.

I got Paul the Joseph Smith Papers. He's been wanting this book forever, so I broke down and bought it for him. I also got him some cologne by Versace. Mmmm. He also got a watch from my parents and a charging station from my sister.

After our Christmas at home we went over to my parents for Christmas dinner and gift exchange with my brothers and sisters. It was a nice relaxing holiday but I can't believe that Christmas is over and it's time to take down all the decorations. I'm always sad to take down my tree. I love all the lights. I'm also going to have to come up with new things to entertain James. We have been truly blessed this year and I am so grateful to so many people. I hope you all had a happy Christmas!

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!