Such a great day!!!!

Let's start by welcoming Baby Micah Okon into the world! My friend and co-worker, Tosin, had her little boy very early Sunday morning. He was an eager beaver and arrived 4 weeks 2 days early but is very healthy and happy! He weighed in at a whopping 5 lbs. 5 oz and 18 inches long. He is the cutest little guy and his parents are thrilled to have him here! Welcome little guy!

Today is turning out to be a wonderful day!!!! For starters, it is the only day off work I have this week to play and enjoy my little man so I am taking advantage of every minute! My day started with getting to sleep in... James didn't wake me up until 7:07am! Now, I don't know if he slept that long because he was up when Josh left at 6:10 but then lying down again at 6:20 when I checked the monitor. Either way, I got some extra sleep... thank you James!

James and I had a wonderful morning full of playing with all of his awesome toys! We also got to share breakfast. James had a little bit of my peanut butter toast (just before the peanut butter part!) I love that James is starting to eat regular food, it makes feeding him so much easier. Which reminds me, Josh was eating a piece of cheese this weekend while holding James so he gave James a little bite of it. James was thrilled that he got some of Daddy's food! It was so cute to see how excited he was!

James then proceeded to take a 2 1/2 hour nap!!! That means that I got the bathrooms cleaned, house vacuumed, dishwasher emptied and partially refilled, microwave cleaned, lunch eaten, bills paid, showered and ready for the day, and even a little time to relax!!!! And, stepped on the scale really quickly to discover that I am only one pound away from my pre-pregnancy weight! As the saying goes, 9 months on, 9 months off... well, my 9 months is up on Friday so it's a good thing I am so close!

After nap time, James enjoyed his lunch of cottage cheese with yams and turkey, then it was off to shop! We did a quick little trip through Cost Plus World Market and found some super comfy chairs that I want for the front room (has anyone found the money tree yet!?). Then it was off to Babies R Us where we had James's 9 month pictures taken and got 8 baby outfits (pants and shirts) for $35! Pretty good deal if you ask me! Now I just need my friends' babies to finish cooking and arrive!

When we got home, James accompanied me to the mailbox to get the mail. This was only too appropriate because half the mail was for him... an invitation to a friend's 1st birthday party and a thank you note from another friend. (The other two pieces of mail were the $200 rebate from our new phones!!! Yeah!!!) Next time we will have to take his dump truck so James has a place to carry the mail on the way back because the mail kept falling off his zebra! It was so cute to see him walk down the sidewalk with his zebra and he LOVED it! His favorite part was running down the driveway because of the slope!

Note the mail under the seat of the zebra. Josh just mentioned to me that I should have used the basket in the front... that would have been smart!

Someone got a little tired and going a little too fast! But he wasn't bothered, he just got back up and continued on!

Now it's nap time again for James and blog time for mommy. I just figured out how to upload all my pictures from my new phone to the computer which is awesome! Now I can share them with all of you! Here's hoping that today's high will last me all week because I have to work the next 5 days!!! Ughhh.

Unfortunately, after nap time was not as great. My little man woke up not so happy so we decided to go for a walk in our new toy! (By the way, our new toy is a bike trailer that also converts to a stroller or jogger!) We were able to get it at a discounted rate off Craigslist and found out the family was selling it because their oldest son refused to be confined in it. Well, on our walk today James kept extending his back like he wanted out. I hope the other family did not curse us!!!

A few other updates on what James is doing...

- He is starting to let go when standing. The standing lasts another 2-4 seconds before he ends up on his behind.

- He has learned to blow raspberries while eating. This makes eating much messier!

- He loves bathtime and will crawl into the bathroom, pull up onto the tub, and bounce up and down until Daddy lets him in!

- He learned today that the toilet seat goes up and down and that there is water in the toilet! So exciting! Luckily, he has not learned yet that the toilet cover goes up and down. Let's hope to keep that one a secret for a little longer.

- He has however learned that the toilet paper roll spins! And then all the toilet paper makes a pile on the floor! So much fun!

- He also knows that the remote control works on the TV. When he can get his hands on the remote, he plays with it and looks at the TV to see what is going to happen. Thanks Uncle Doug!

- He is learning to express his wants... this usually occurs in the form of a mini tandrum. I got one of those today when I wouldn't let him have the remote. Let's hope they don't last long!

- He has also learned to pretend that he's not about to do something he shouldn't. Example: James will crawl as fast as possible over to the doggie bowls, Josh or I will go tearing over there to try to beat him and tell him to turn around, if we beat him there, he will suddenly start doing something else like looking out the window or standing on a dining room chair. But, as soon as we leave, back to the doggie bowls it is! How do they learn this so early!

- James also loves to look out the windows now. I thought this picture was too cute!

Love to all!!!!

Sweetest!

Just in case people were wondering... I have the cutest, sweetest, most wonderfulest baby ever! I love this stage right now! Everything is so much fun and James has such a personality. I sat on the couch with him forever tonight because I didn't want to put him in bed because I was going to miss him (especially because I work the next 3 days!) Then he was an angel and rolled around quietly in bed until he got comfy and fell asleep. So precious!
After he fell asleep, Josh and I snuggled up on the couch and watched a silly movie. The movie wasn't so great but it warmed my heart and made me miss all my friends. I wanna have a dinner party every night with a different group of friends so I can hang out and catch up with everyone!
I hope everyone is doing well! Love to all!!

Mexican Food

James got his first taste of mexican food last night and loved it... kind of! After getting home from the cabin, we decided to take James into the pediatrician to made sure he wasn't sick because he had been pulling on his ears, had a rash around his mouth, and hadn't been sleeping well. Sounds like teething we were told! On the way home, we decided to stop at a cute little mexican place for dinner. I really wanted to eat dinner there but we had no food, formula, bib, or anything else for James. We decided to make it work anyway!!! He sat in a high chair (no problem) and drank water from a cup (with our help of course!) The water went over well because drinking out of a cup is a special little treat for him other than the time he "helped" Daddy pour it a little faster! As far as food, we got him a cheese quesadilla and we both had burritos. We tore off little bits of the quesadilla for James... he was not too fond of the tortilla but enjoyed the cheese. We also tore off little bites of the meat from our burritos for James... chicken from me and steak from Daddy! A special new thing that he loved... steak! But the real hit of the night was pinto beans! We split the little beans in half and he LOVED THEM!!! We even went back up and asked for another small dish of beans! Unfortunately, the beans did not love him back quite as much from 10:30-midnight last night but the Mylicon did the trick and he got a few good hours of sleep. It was a new experience having James eat whatever we were eating and so refreshing to know that we can find something for him to eat when we are out and about. It kind of gives us a new sense of freedom knowing that James is old enough to eat a variety of food in case we forget some of his food! I can't believe my little boy is getting so big but I am having so much fun watching him grow every day and learn something new each day. I am doing my best to enjoy each and every day but sometimes can't help dream about the future too! It's all so much fun! (I am even learning to enjoy the snuggling in the middle of the night because I know he will quickly be too big to snuggle in my lap so easily and I will miss it terribly!)

Christmas!!!!

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!!! We had a wonderful day! James must have known it was Christmas morning because he woke up at 6am and was ready to go! We decided that we would let him get up that early because it was a special day. We had a great time opening stockings and presents at home just the three of us and Captain. James had a great time taking the first two things out of his stocking but then was much more interested in playing with his toys!

After our little Christmas morning in Folsom, we headed up to Arnold to enjoy a few days in the mountains with the whole family. We had a wonderful time hanging out at the cabin and enjoying spending time with everyone. James got the cutest little penguin sled from G-ma-ma and Grandpa and even got to use it sledding down the driveway at the cabin (after almost 2 inches of snow on Christmas night)!

James also got to experience snow shoeing/cross country skiing for the first time! (Kind of!) James rode in a little sled being towed by Josh who was snow shoeing. G-ma-ma, Grandpa, and I went along for the ride on our cross country skis. Initally James did not like being bundled up in so many clothes but was a happy little camper and soon sound asleep once we started moving! We really enjoyed getting out in the wilderness, the breath taking views, and the good company! Before we know it, James will be skiing right along with us!

Now as far as sleeping... the days at the cabin were wonderful, but the nights, not so much! James was not a fan of sleeping at night time and thus we spent many an hour awake and rocking James in the middle of the night while there. Unfortunately, he didn't even want us sitting down so it was the standing up rocking! Many a thank you to G-ma-ma who rocked James from 2-6am on Christmas night so the rest of us could sleep. Unfortunately, I'm still way too tired from too many hours of rocking in the middle of the night!!!! I guess I just got used to and spoiled by having a baby who sleeps 11 hours at night. Hopefully he will be back soon!

I will try to post pictures from our Christmas soon! I am just too lazy to go get them and download them onto the computer right now. Hopefully in the next few days! I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and wishing everyone a fun-filled New Years!

All I want for Christmas...

All I want for Christmas is for James to get his two front teeth on the top! James hasn't been sleeping too well and a little fussy in the carseat the past week or so and I can't figure it out but now I am thinking and hoping that it is teething. His gums are so swollen that it must be! But I have thought that before and no teeth. I am really hoping they make their appearance this time so he can go back to his amazing sleep habits!

Let's see... other fun in the land of James...
- James and I went to the mall yesterday to see Santa!!! After waiting in line for an hour, James fell asleep in my arms with one person left in front of us. I proceeded to put James asleep in Santa's arms and he quickly woke up and SMILED! I was afraid that he would wake up crying but he was great! Good boy!
- James is pulling up on everything! He pulled up to stand on my leg for the first time yesterday which was so cute! He is also starting to do more cruising and can move from standing holding on to one surface to the other. So much fun!
- James is having a great time with Christmas already! He has gotten pretty good at this wrapping paper thing, especially when Mommy is trying to put it on the presents! Thus far he has gotten a red wagon from his Auntie Michellie and Uncle Gary which is so much fun! He got a Radio Flyer rocking horse from Great Granny House, a zebra riding toy from Grammy Connie, a basketball hoop (James size, of course) from Grandpa Dave, a music table from Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Whichard, and lots of fun other stuff! I am hoping that the next present will come with a storage shed so we have room for all these fun new toys!
- Now this one I have been meaning to mention for a while but keep forgetting, James is getting quite skilled at locking me out of his room already! Aren't I supposed to have a few more years before this happens? James loves to close doors and then lie right in front of them and cry that he can't get out! Crazy kid! Thankfully, I get to the door before he gets it closed completely and can get it back open.
Picture time...

Josh thinks that putting James is this huge gift bag is the cutest thing ever! I guess it is pretty cute!

Okay, I guess James thinks that it is pretty cute too!

Kisses!!!!

Hey Mom! What's up?

I think that I may have already posted this picture but I am too lazy to check so I am going to post it again. The cute little kiddos at our friend's Christmas party!

We are having a great time with James! I just keep saying what a fun stage this is and how fast time flies!!!

I forgot....

A few more things that I remembered...

- James is now saying "da-da". Everything is either "da", "da-da", or "ah-da". We keep trying to get him to associate "da-da" with Josh but for now everything is "da-da".
- James is also starting to wave goodbye a little. Last week at daycare, he waved goodbye to Desiree and has done it a few times since then. He is also just beginning to use signs for things like "more" and "all done". I can't wait for him to get a little better with them to make it easier to know what he wants!

Okay, I think that is really all for now but I will probably think of something else and be back in a minute again!

New phone...

Wow, time has gotten away from me and it's been a little while since I have written. I was being so good, then I got a new smart phone which I can use to do lots of cool stuff, like Facebook and email, so I am rarely on the computer anymore to blog. I had to look back to see what was going on at the last blog because there has been so much going on!

We'll start with James...

- Quickly after his first tooth, he got a second one! He now has both bottom middle teeth. They are there enough to feel (ouch!) but not quite enough to see easily yet! The wonderful thing about the second tooth was that it just kind of appeared with no warning. I thought maybe that was a good sign that the others would do the same but now we are back to teething again. I am guessing that the top ones may make their appearance before Christmas too! So, James's first Christmas present was his 2 front teeth!

- James continues to get around like a champ! He is moving from his belly to sitting with no problem now and even beginning to pull himself up to stand a little more. Today he pulled up to stand on the dining room chair, music table, wooden toy, and us lots of times! He is also becoming brave enough to move from standing with a toy to holding onto us and a little cruising on the couch (but still only very little!) He is also starting to walk with his walking toy but it is still quite unstable and we need to stay close by. So much to look forward to in the next few weeks!!!

- James is growing like crazy too! He is weighing in at about 21lbs which puts him in the 72st percentile for weight. As far as length goes, he is somewhere around 29-30 inches which puts him around the 90th percentile for length. He officially graduated from the infant carseat to the convertible carseat this weekend which was crazy! I can't believe how fast time is flying! He is also graduating from 9 month clothes to 12 month clothes, partially because he is growing and partially because we didn't have a ton of 9 month clothes and I was getting bored of them (but we have tons of very cute 12 month clothes!)

I think that's about all that's going on with James for now. We are having a great time with him and looking forward to all that is coming in the next few weeks and months!

Now for Josh and I (and James too of course)...

- The three of us went to our friends, the Jarvis's, for a Christmas party last weekend. James was a tired bear before we got there but was happy once we got there with all the people and excitement. He was then a great little boy and fell asleep in the pack and play in their guest room for most of the party. Josh and I then got to enjoy the party as adults! It was quite nice to get to sit and chat without having to worry about the little guy!

Right before James went to bed we got this cute picture of all the little ones: Tyler (11 weeks), Parker (4 1/2 months), James (8 months), Ethan (10 months), and Emma (20 months). They were so cute and such good little kiddos sitting there for the photo shoot!

- I got to sneek away for a night of Bunco with the ladies last week also. It was great to hang out and relax with the ladies, but even more so, it was wonderful to have James be old enough and on a routine enough that I didn't worry about how he and Josh were getting along at home. They did great and I had a wonderful night relaxing with the ladies!

That's all I can think of at the moment. I am going to get going to the couch because the season finale of Biggest Loser is waiting for me! I hope everyone is doing well! Love to all!!!