my little helper

I was taking some photos the other day and James just HAD to be in some. Who else loves his perfect little pose and adorable face??

December really did happen...

...I just never blogged about it! I think I was busy being pregnant and stuff.

I couldn't pass up posting these pictures. Decorating the Christmas tree...

Learning about the Nativity...

And of course, our boy had a birthday in December! I can't believe he is three years old already.

Happy Birthday, James!

James filled his Daddy's pockets up with fun musical stuff one day.

And he filled my wallet with Monopoly money, "so we can buy $5 toys and dollar store treats!" Thanks Bud!

Making Nana's chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles. Yummy!

(James LOVES playing in flour!)







Getting excited for Christmas!







Looking at the presents...



Our stockings! I finally made James' stocking....maybe one of these days we'll all have matching ones :)



Our tree on Christmas Eve



In Christmas pj's from my Mama!



Our own little nativity. What a cute shepherd!!





Christmas morning!

the belly

For posterity's sake, here is my pregnant self at 16.5 weeks. Here we go!

note the summery outfit and flip-flops....I love San Antonio!!

what I've been up to...

So for a long time I have wanted to teach some kind of piano preschool class. Well I finally decided to just go ahead and do it! I recruited a good friend who is also a piano teacher and we are in the process of planning for our first Preschool Piano Camp. I am so excited! We have lots of fun plans in the works, including lots of games and activities, as well as a giant vinyl floor keyboard which I am super excited about!

So, if you know anyone in San Antonio with children ages 3-5 who want to get a good start with piano, pass on the information!
http://earlyexpressionspiano.blogspot.com/

countdown

We are so excited because we get to fly on an airplane soon and go to Utah to visit family! James can't WAIT! We made this paper chain to count down the days. Every morning James reminds me that we need to take a link off of the chain. He is so excited to go to Jukie's house!

3-Year-Old James

Our boy is pretty nice.

Lately...

...He LOVES to sing. His favorites are Primary songs like "Follow the Prophet" (which he was heard singing the other day as he ran around the house naked........we are potty training....), "I am a Child of God" and his new favorite "Pioneer Children Sang as they Walked." Every single time we sing it he says, "Why did they wash in streams??" He also loves the Inchworm song and therefore is pretty good at his math (well, at least he knows that 2 and 2 are 4, 4 and 4 are 8, 8 and 8 are 16 and that 16 and 16 are 32!)

...He loves to come up with fun ideas to do. And there are always ten ideas in his list. Because he has ten fingers. He is often seen walking around holding up his ten fingers, all ready to do his ideas. Here is a sample list of James' ideas:

1. Play Duck Duck Goose

2. Play Patty Cake

3. Eat sandwiches

4. Do stuff

5. Eat sandwiches

6. Do stuff

7. Take a bath

8. Play with Daddy when he gets home

9. Check out more books

10. Then PLAY!!

After we complete an idea he puts the corresponding finger down with a resounding, "CHECK!"

...He loves eating breakfast in the morning with Daddy before school. And Mommy loves that he loves eating breakfast with Daddy before school because that means she gets a few more minutes of sleep! I also love that I can lay there in bed and say, "ok, go potty" and he can go all by himself. Most of the time.

...He has to have his room immaculately clean before going to bed each night, or else "the scary dreams will come!" We have to put away anything that is out, and we have to clean up everything in the bathroom, including all of the bath toys that may be in the tub. 

One night last week we had a late night and he fell asleep on my lap. I was too tired to clean up and didn't want to wake him, so I just tucked him in bed and went to sleep myself. In the middle of the night there was a frantic boy yelling, "Mommy! We forgot to clean my room!!" So we cleaned it right then and there.

...He loves Dr. Seuss. We have a big book with thirteen Dr. Seuss books in it, and the other day Jonathan read almost the entire book to him in one sitting. It took over an hour.

...He is (finally) getting pretty good at eating his dinner! He likes to pick a number of bites he thinks he can take, and then he usually takes all of them (even when he picks 27!). Last night he ate an entire baked potato. Later when I tried to put him to bed he was super tired but frantically trying to think of a way to get out of going to bed.

All of a sudden he said, "I just realized I ever finished my dinner!!" (Which really means I never finished my dinner.) I told him that actually yes, he ate a lot of dinner and it was time for bed, but he kept protesting, "I ever finished my dinner!!" Finally in a sad voice he said, "Trust me!! I ever finished my dinner!" What a convincing boy!

By the way, do you notice the dirty sleeves in these pictures? Despite our best attempts, he lately has a permanent stain on his right shoulder from wiping his face at meal time.....

Legos

 Our boy just loves building with legos.

He makes a pretty good airplane!

Guess what??

We're having a baby!

We are so excited to welcome our new little baby this coming July! Baby is doing well, and I am doing great (I was feeling pretty sick for awhile, but now am fine as long as I get 9 or 10 hours of sleep per night!), and we are all just thrilled. When asked if he thinks the baby is a boy or a girl, James always says, "Let's see when it comes out!" He is also very interested in my growing belly, and the other day said, "I just felt the baby move!!" (even though he was sitting across the table from me!).

We just wanted to share our happy news :)

Me at almost 15 weeks: