a new beginning

Today we rented an apartment --- a place of our very own!!

And it's not only an apartment, it's a townhouse. For some reason I have always wanted to live in a townhouse! Maybe it was driving by all the cute townhouses on 9th east in Provo - you know, the ones with the cute, colorful doors - I always liked the one with the red door. Our townhouse doesn't have a red door (they are all brown), BUT I think it is pretty awesome that we got to pick out a paint color (we picked red) for an accent wall. How cool is that?

I hate searching for places to live. For some reason it is always so frustrating to me, because you have to wade through all the places that are scary or sketchy or are bug-infested (true story) or have beer cans laying around or are too expensive or just don't feel safe or good or right. But then you get to the one that just feels good. And it is everything you're looking for and it is so exciting. And then life is wonderful :) Sometimes I also feel that there are certain places you are supposed to be at certain times, so when you find a great place to live and feel so good about it, it is definitely a great feeling!

So, this Saturday we are moving! I have already boxed up ten boxes of stuff (amazing how many things you accumulate) and we have a LONG WAY to go, but we are just ecstatic. Life is good :)

A sweet homecoming

Cheryl, I hope you don't mind me posting these pictures, they are just so precious and I am just so happy for you that I had to share the love :)


My best buddy Cheryl, who had her sweet baby Amelia a couple of months ago, just welcomed home her husband Dave, who had been away with the Navy for six months. These are the sweetest pictures ever. Isn't this the cutest little family ever?

the sweet little girl! maybe we'll have to get her and James together ;) hehe

Lessons Learned

This afternoon we had family home evening before Jonathan left for work. We have been doing FHE lessons from the cute new nursery manual that came out a little while ago. James LOVES looking at the pictures of Jesus and is so cute when we talk about Jesus.

Today our lesson was called "Jesus Christ Showed Us How to Love Others." James was so dang cute as I was teaching him the little lesson - he kept on nodding his head and enthusiastically saying "yeah!" about everything I said. We were talking about how we can show love to others by being nice to everyone. We then gave him some examples of being nice to people - one of which was being nice to Jukie (his Grandma, who he calls "Giki" lately) even when he is playing with Grandpa (this kid is a little obsessed with his Grandpa and sometimes he is the ONLY person he wants to play with - this one day he wasn't very nice to her when she tried to sit down next to him and play). So we finished up our lesson and that was that.

*****

This evening as James and I were visiting with my family, I mentioned our family home evening lesson, and said that we had learned to be nice to everyone. Without missing a beat, James got all excited and said "Giki!"

So glad that he learned something! :)

Good boy, Jack

I just found out that Jonathan's faithful family dog, Jack, passed away. The poor dog was SO old that it is definitely a good thing, but still I find that I am a little sad about it! Jack has been with the family forever, and is especially loved for the time that he saved Jonathan's Dad's life (as far as I know, the story goes that Dad was about to be charged by a bull, and Jack went and bit that bull in the behind!) James will surely miss playing with Jack when we go home for visits. What a good dog he was!

We'll miss you, Jack!

Some activities of our day...

*reading (who doesn't love cuddling up with a good book?)

(this book he is reading is one by Olivier Dunrea - we are LOVING his books lately - they are all about little goslings and are really cute - check them out!)

*looking at apartments

*having a close encounter with THIS...



*eating almost an entire 14 oz container of salsa (it was just so good, and we were hungry...)

*James trying his FIRST chocolate pudding - and LOVING it!!




*hanging out with Bapa, "Giki," Annie and Abby



Great day!

What were YOU doing at 2:00 a.m.?

....well, around 2 am (which, coincidentally, was the same time my Dad would have been getting up and getting ready for this), Jonathan was just getting home from work - for the next little while he'll be working from 5 pm to about 1:30 am!....yes, craziness....I sometimes don't know whether it'd be better to stay up and wait for him (and consequently be bored and flip through tv channels while I wait/sleep), or if I should just go to bed so I won't be tired in the morning when The Boy wakes up (now consistently at 8 a.m. on the dot) - yes, our schedule is weird but hey, we make it work :)

ANYWAY, back to the point of this post....so around 1:00 I finally decided to crawl into bed. I was exHAUSTED, it felt so good to finally crawl under the covers and close my eyes. Right after I closed them, I heard a very alert and distinct "MaMA?!" I thought he'd go back to sleep (he NEVER wakes up in the middle of the night like this)...but to my dismay, I kept on hearing "MaMA??! MaMA?" Finally I went in there and there he sat, awake as ever, smiling, happy and cheerful as if it were morning and it was time to play. I grabbed him, his pillow and blanket and took him back to bed with me, where he laid down quietly for a while. Then, while I was in a weird awake/asleep state, he sat up and just kind of stared around the room for about half an hour until his Daddy came home. Once Daddy came home, James decided it was play time!! He jumped right off the bed and got busy...

...perusing through movie choices (yeah right, like I'd let him watch Baby Einstein in the middle of the night...tough luck, kid!)...



...trying to play the Wii (sorry bud)...


...and being adorable for my camera, which (conveniently) was right by the bed....


(honestly, how could you be mad at this face??)


this is what I was feeling like at the time...(go to BED!)...I think he was just bugged at all the flashes coming from my camera...


ok so this is more like what I was feeling...hmm can't believe I'm posting this picture...oh well....you've all seen tired mommies before!


Finally, Daddy picked up James and took him outside to see just how DARK it was....(maybe he was confused and thought it was morning?)....we kissed him, put him to bed and he didn't make another sound :) Ahhh, sleep....

*had to share*

I just saw this on my old roommate Amanda's blog and simply had to share it - I thought it was so cute and creative! Weddings are supposed to be joyful occasions, after all...

Doesn't it just make you smile a little? :)

Here is the link since the embedding has been disabled.

Walking Man

Today my amazing Dad ran and finished his third marathon! He ran in the Deseret News marathon and finished in 4:08 - pretty amazing if you ask me!

I am pretty proud of my Dad - can I just brag for a sec? He has always liked walking over the years. He would go for long, long walks (we're talking like someone would drop him off at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon and then he'd walk home!). In fact, this song always has reminded me of him...



A few years ago he decided to start running, and he eventually ran his first marathon (the Deseret News marathon). Then, a little over a year ago, my Dad decided once and for all that he was tired of being overweight. So, he just started walking. He decided to walk to work and hasn't stopped since. Every single day he walked four miles there and four miles back. Then he started running. He has lost TONS of weight and is healthier than he has been in a long time (not to mention he is handsome and tan as all get-out!). I am so proud of him!

We got to go cheer him on today as he ran his third marathon and got his best time ever.

my boys waiting for Dad near the finish line

can't wait to see Bapa!

here he comes!!

you can make it!

nearing the finish...

way to go, Popsy!!

Dad and his friend Burke, one of his counselors in his bishopric

James was so excited to see his Bapa

James with his Aunt Baba

The fam

today

we took some pictures

we laid on the grass

we played with my family

(love your face, Abby!)

we had so much fun!

Bye Bye, Baby!

Every few months or so I go through James' clothes and box up the ones that don't fit him anymore. As I did that this morning I couldn't help but feel a little sad and nostalgic.

His first tiny pair of shoes. His cuddly monster pj's and his fuzzy green giraffe pajamas. His comfy blue long-sleeved onesie that kept him warm under his first Halloween costume - so many favorites that no longer fit my baby!

Gone are those tiny socks and those itty bitty sweat pants. Forget anything less than 18 mos. size (and some of those are too small) - my baby is a BOY now!

It was like I was packing away his babyhood, and realizing for real that he is no longer a baby.


Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love each new stage, and I have to admit that it is nice that I don't have to carry him everywhere, and that he can tell me if he wants milk or juice or if he is hot or cold. I love it how he thinks we are absolutely hilarious and says "again!" when we tickle him.

Sometimes, though, don't you just wish you could freeze time for a little while and keep them really little?

Antics

Aren't little kids funny?

James is no exception, he definitely has his own little sense of humor and sometimes does the most random, funny things. You never know what you'll find when you, say, open up the closet to get dressed, or try to load paper in the printer - he loves to stick his toys in random places. Right now, for example, he's got about ten or twelve little toy cars somewhere in the house which are simply nowhere to be found. We've looked in all his normal spots and can't seem to find them!

One thing is for sure - this kid is so much fun. There is definitely never a dull moment with our Silly Billy.

Trying to get his favorite toy car, Lightning McQueen, out of the Daddy's subwoofer speaker. A wire hanger, some packing tape, help from my sisters and mom and about an hour later, I had managed to get McQueen out, only to discover that there were three more cars in there! I let Daddy worry about those...

Talking to Nana on the phone. Lately Nana (Jonathan's Mom) is ALWAYS the person that James "talks" to on his play phone (or a real phone, for that matter). On this particular day, he sat there in his car seat with the phone up to his ear for about twenty minutes. Guess he and Nana were having a LONG chat.

This is how he woke up his sleepy Daddy this morning (who got home from work around 2 am!) - by shoving a toy sheep into his mouth and then following suit with a farmer in his own mouth. See what I mean? What a Silly Billy :)

This morning he decided he wanted to ride on his truck with every doggie he owns. He even stayed there long enough for me to grab the camera.

So grateful...

...that I have this sweet little boy as my constant little buddy,


...that I am there for all the cute moments, the cute faces, the "firsts,"


...that I am a stay-at-home mom and that my own mom instilled in me a desire to be a mom.


I can't imagine missing out on anything!


And because every once in awhile I need just a little break, I am also so grateful for my awesome hubby who has quality "guy time" like this (aka Star Wars or "darsss" as James says) with our buddy boy!