Laundry

One more cute story that I had to share...
I was folding laundry today while the boys were playing when James came over to me with his dump truck and told me to load him up!  So I put a pile of folded clothes in his dump truck and sent him to the correct room.  We got the entire load of laundry delivered to the correct rooms this way and then it was very easy for me to go to each room to put the clothes in the drawers.  The last pile was for the kitchen so I sent James off with that pile of 3 bibs, 1 apron, and 1 kitchen towel.  I was bummed to see the nicely folded pile tossed on the ground but figured I couldn't be too picky.  When I came back 5 minutes later to put everything away, the pile was gone!  I asked James about it and found out that he had already put it all away!!!!  He put the apron in the correct apron drawer, the bibs in the bib drawer, and hung the kitchen towel on the oven handle!  Let's just say I was more that slightly surprised!  I think I can handle this!!!!

Mom of the Year!!!

I think I may have officially won the "Mom of the Year" award last night!!!!  Here's how it all happened...

James, Jack, and I were getting ready to go to a Christmas Party in Roseville with a bunch of James's friends.  James decided that he wanted to use the potty before we headed off to our party so he did.  (Mommy was quite excited about this!!!) After he went, I decided to just pull up his jeans so he could wash his hands and get a "poo-poo" truck, then I would put his diaper back on so we could leave.  Also as we were getting ready to leave, I decided that I didn't need to bring a ton of extra diapers and clothes because we were only going to be gone for 2 hours and both boys had just gone poo-poo.  Also, I always carry extra diapers, wipes, and a change of clothes in my car in case of emergencies.  So, with those thoughts in mind I threw a diaper for Jack in my purse and headed to the Christmas party.  About 30 minutes into the party, James comes over to me and says, "Mommy, my pants are wet!"  My immediate thought as I see the inner parts of his jeans are soaked... how did his diaper leak so quickly!  Then I realized that there were two vital errors in my previous hour of decision making... I forgot to complete the "replace diaper" step (aka. James's pants were soaked because he was only wearing a pair of jeans, no diaper or underwear!) and I brought Josh's truck (so I could bring the little picnic table for the party) which meant I didn't actually have a change of clothes.  Oops!!!  Luckily, a friend let me borrow a pull-up and Colleen let me borrow a pair of Isa's black stretch pants (they were better than the pink pants or turquoise pants with stars that I was offered).  Lesson learned... refill changes of clothes and extra diapers in both cars!  And don't forget to put diapers on all kids who are not yet potty trained!!!!  

Jack Update

Quick Jack update... Jack is moving like crazy!  He can crawl everywhere, crawl up a flight of stairs, pull to stand, cruise along the couch, transition from the couch to coffee table while standing, move from standing to sitting, walk while pushing a toy, crawl over short objects like my leg, and stand while holding on with one hand.  He is doing a great job with clapping and just loves life!  Jack LOVES to play with his big brother James and even gets upset when James doesn't want to play with him.  It is amazing and wonderful to see how much Jack and James love each other already and see them interact!  Anyway, I could go on forever and ever about my two little precious ones but morning is going to come way too early and I have way too many things to get done so I better keep it short and sweet!  Love to all!

Gymnastics

James starting participating in gymnastics again about two months ago and has been LOVING it!  Josh usually takes him on Tuesday evenings but I was lucky enough to be the chosen one the past two weeks.  I LOVE to see how much fun James has at gymnastics and see how much better he is doing interacting with and taking turns with the other kiddos.  After seeing James have such a wonderful time last week and seeing how much Jack is moving around and trying to climb at home, I decided to look into Jack starting gymnastics.  I know it seems really early but I figured we would just give it a shot and see how it goes!  I added him to the 12:30 class on Monday afternoon and was going to try my best to find something wonderful to entertain James while I did gymnastics with Jack.  Well, I found the best thing ever to entertain James.... his wonderful Auntie Miche!  I forgot that Auntie Miche has Mondays off so she came over and played with James during Jack's gymnastics.  James loved having special one-on-one time with Auntie Miche and I loved having special one-on-one time with Jack.  Jack LOVED gymnastics!!!  He was laughing and smiling throughout the whole thing and I was amazed at how well he did!  He was able to crawl up and down in incline, crawl across a wooden plank, LOVED the pom-poms, hang onto a bar, bounce on a trampoline, and was completely fearless throughout everything.  I am so excited for him to continue gymnastics and watch his development along the way!

Even More Christmas Fun!!!

After a fun morning of family pictures, we raced back home to get some yummy beef stew and minestrone soup cooking while we headed up to Apple Hill with Gaga, Papa, Grandpa Dave, and Grandma Dodie to help Auntie Miche and Uncle Gary pick out the perfect tree for their first Christmas in their new home!  They found just the right one for their beautiful home and we had a good time providing our opinions!  Here are a few cute pictures from our adventures...

 Grandpa Dave and Jack were buddies at the Christmas tree farm!

 Grandpa Dave and Grandma Dodie with Josh and the boys.

 I got in on the action!

 Grandpa Dave taught Jack all about the different Christmas trees.  He is quite the expert now!

 After finding the perfect Christmas tree, we all headed down the road to Boa Vista to get some yummy apple pie, apple donuts, coffee, and ice cream.  Grandpa Dave quickly became James's favorite when an entire bowl of ice cream appeared!  Of course we had to get an apple pie to bring home too!

After a fun-filled afternoon of Christmas tree searching and apple pie eating, we all headed back to our house for a delicious soup buffet (beef stew, minestrone, and Cheesy Potato).

All in all, a wonderful day full of wonderful family and lots of Christmas cheer!

More Christmas Fun!!!

Sunday was a continuation of the fun... We started bright and early with family pictures at the park by the Craven household at 8am!  (A little more like 8:30 by the time we made it there but still not bad!)  

Here are a few of the best pictures...

 The whole family!  Oops with the gray vs. red but at least no one in screaming!

 The four of us!

 Oops!  Chose the one with Josh's eyes closed it looks like!

 My little cutie pie!

 Michelle and I were going to kiss Doug on the cheek but I guess we have pulled that one too many times and he knew what to expect!

 He decided to be a good sport and let us do it anyway!

 The Cravens!

 The Slades!

 Uncle Doug and little Jack!

 Gaga with her boys!

 Big Jack walking!!!  (I'm not ready for that one!)

 Mommy with her little man!

 Auntie Miche with little Jack-a-roo!

 My precious little boys!  Look at Jack's amazing eyes!

 Aren't they just the cutest!?!??!  James was such a wonderful big brother just lying there while Jack crawled all over him.

 Auntie Miche with my big boy James!

Here's the nice picture of us!  Daddy missed us because he had to take a little trip to the little boys' room.

The boys are up from their naps so more to come later!

It's Almost Christmas!!!

I can't believe that Christmas is only 2 weeks away!  I have SOOO much to do in the next two weeks!!!  Again it seems like forever since I have written but maybe that's just because we have been so busy and there is so much to write about!  This afternoon, I decided that I would sit in a filthy house and blog instead.  What's the point of cleaning it when the boys are going to destroy it within 5 minutes of waking up anyway?

There is so much to write about... I guess I better start with our CRAZY busy and SUPER fun weekend!!!! We got to go on the Polar Express!!!!  We started it all off on Friday by snuggling up in our PJs on the couch and watching the Polar Express with Gaga.  (Daddy and I were asleep within minutes but James and Gaga got to enjoy the whole movie!)   Then on Saturday, we decided to forgo our naps in exchange for a real trip on the Polar Express. We had quite the group... Gaga, Papa, Grammy, Auntie Jill, Cousin Cion, Uncle Jeremy, Auntie Billa, Cousin Yoyo, and Cousin Dagbjort (in addition to the 4 of us of course!)  We ALL dressed up in our best pajamas and headed out to Old Town Sacramento for a picnic and then our special trip on the Polar Express.  The Polar Express was a wonderful 1 hour train ride to the North Pole and back during which time we got hot chocolate and cookies, a special bell from Santa Claus himself, and lots of entertainment!  (Special memory... James decided to start the whole trip off right but throwing up all over the floor while waiting in line to get on the train!  I think it was a little too much spinning around a pole and a little too much of a stomach line mine!  Sorry buddy!)

Now for pictures from the Polar Express...  Sorry they are out of order but that's what happens when they are from multiple cameras!

 Our little family picnic before the train ride.

 Auntie Jill and Cion on the Polar Express!

 Grammy, Papa, and Gaga in their best PJs!

 The "hobo" from the Polar Express movie.

 Daddy and Jack enjoying the scenery.

 The North Pole!!!!

 James mesmerized by the North Pole!

 Daddy and Jack!  So cute!

 James was absolutely infatuated by this "Old Time Santa" in Old Town Sacramento.

 Getting ready for our trip on the Polar Express.

 Daddy helping James write a letter to Santa!  (My guess is that he asked for a Gordon train!)

 All four of us on the Polar Express! Aren't my boys the cutest in their matching PJs!!!  And make sure you check out Daddy's awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle PJs!!!!

 Our favorite picture from the day!  James was amazed!!!

My little sweetie pie!!!  (A little tired from a short 20 minute nap in the car only.  Our first day that we tried to skip nap/quiet time!)

After our wonderful trip on the Polar Express... We (I) decided that we should try to run up to Auburn to catch the light parade (which my co-worker told me was amazing and awesome!)  Well, we made it just in time to see the end.  And by the end, I mean the floats leaving the parade route to return home.  Luckily there were a few floats with lights on still (which James did love) but most of the floats we saw from our post in a random parking lot had their lights turned off and several people following who had enjoyed a little too much eggnog.  ;-)  Oops!  Hopefully next year!!!

Way too long!

Oh my goodness!  It's been way too long because we have been way to busy!  A very brief synopsis of life...

- Still looking for a new nanny but I think we have gotten much closer and will hopefully have a new one soon!

- James is becoming such a wonderful big boy!  I love getting to spend one-on-one time with him and enjoy his company more and more each day.  I got to go to gymnastics with him today and absolutely LOVED seeing how much fun he was having!  Quick note on the flip side: Nap yesterday consisted of emptying out our underwear, socks, hats, diapers, and pajamas drawers and about 30 books off the bookshelf and throwing them around the room!!!  Since I didn't make the mess, I refused to clean it up (though I did help with some folding and directing!) so it took James over an hour to clean it up.  During which time he partially refused to clean it up so he lost all of his trains for the rest of the day!  Yikes!

- Jack is moving like crazy!  He is crawling everywhere, pulling up to stand, cruising (just started in the past day or two), sitting from a standing position, and wanting to crawl up onto everything!  This weekend at the cabin his two favorite things were crawling up the stairs and trying to crawl over to the wood burning stove!  Poor little man just wants to keep up with his big brother and gets so upset when he can't!  He continues to be a momma's boy and has a fit if I leave the room and has to come say hi everyone 5 minutes or so when he is playing.  Jack also sprouted another tooth this past weekend (sorry Gaga that you had to deal with the disaster child while it was making it's appearance!)

- We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Livermore/Fremont and loved getting to spend a few days visiting with family and friends!

- I am still busy as always at work but am enjoying a few days of call-off this month due to it being slow at work.  :-)

- Josh is working as hard as ever at work and doing a great job!  We are getting more and more excited every day about our work sponsored trip to Hawaii in March!!!  Thank you Ferguson!

- We are looking forward to a fun-filled weekend coming up and lots of fun holiday events over the next few weeks!

Off to bed for me!  It's incredibly too late as always and I'll be up in 4 hours or so to feed Jack.  I very much looking forward to Jack finally sleeping through the night at some point (hopefully soon!)  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!!!!