James is growing so quickly it boggles my mind. He is talking so much as of late. He has started to mimic us and his cousins. He is always coming up with new words. We really have to be careful of what we say. Gregg said crap when James was in the room. Crap has thus been added to his vocabulary. He has started to put words together for short phrases like "I sit" or "I got it" or "Big truck". Sometimes he can even identify the number of objects. He point out two birds or one car.
James is also super fast. He loves to run and rarely walks. We've found that he is also pretty competitive already. When we want to get him to do something all we have to do is say "Ready?" then James says "Ready!" then will do whatever we are wanting him to do. It has been very useful on the days when he is being stubborn while eating or when is getting distracted outside. When he gets ready to race, he hunches over with his arms ready to pump. However, James only pumps the left arm. He holds his right arm next to his body. We'll have to work on that.
Back in April and May we went to a lot of baseball games. James has since fallen in love with the game. He has his own glove and bat. He loves to play baseball especially with daddy. They go into James' room, shut the door than have a fabulous game of baseball. James loves when Gregg hits the ball across the room (Don't worry its a Nerf ball.) for a homerun. When its James turn to bat, he'll run from one end of the room to the other. I love hearing them laughing and yelling.
James also likes to undress himself out of his pajamas. Sometimes I go in to find a naked boy.
One of his favorites things to play with his shaving cream with food coloring.
James has been on a kick lately where he loves to try on mommy and daddy's shoes.
Who needs toys when you have a huge box to play in?
James is also becoming much more mischievous. Quiet is never good.
In April Gregg had a couple job interviews, one in Montana and one in South Dakota. We decided to make a road trip out of it and thought it would be fun. We borrowed a portable dvd player from Laura and Jared (The dvd player saved our sanity. I don't know how we would've survived without it.) and went on our way. Our first stop was West Yellowstone, MT. Gregg and I had been there before on our honeymoon so we knew what fun things we could do. We went to a bear and wolf reserve which James loved. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go into Yellowstone but I guess we'll just have to make it back someday. Our next stop was Lemmon, SD for Gregg's other interview. It went well and we cruised the town before we headed down to Rapid City and Mt. Rushmore. At Mt. Rushmore we met up with David and Melissa. It was so good to see them again. We went swimming a couple times and went to Mt. Rushmore before heading home. The drive home was horrible. It was way too long and it didn't help that James was running a high fever and refused to sleep unless he was in our arms. We finally made it home and back to our beds. The trip had its ups and downs and I'm not sure that we will ever try to do that much driving in so short a time again but it was fun.
Getting James to hold still for a picture is near impossible.
Daddy and James in front of the wolves.
James had blast with David and Melissa. I guess they are way more fun than mom and dad.
Usually I like to plan in advance a few things for the holidays but this year I completely spaced Easter. I kept thinking that it was later than it was so I didn't even think about it until Gregg mentioned it to me the Friday before Easter Sunday. I threw some things together and it turned out pretty great considering. Saturday morning we headed over for the Cosmo Easter Egg Hunt which turned out to be a joke. Way too many people who didn't care about anybody but themselves. James had fun running around and being outside. Sunday, the Easter bunny came and left some baskets. James loved the eggs probably more than what was inside. The weather was even perfect for a little egg hunt. All in all it was a great weekend.
We recently found out the Home Depot has a free workshop every first Saturday of the month. We went this month and they just happened to be making cars. James had a blast! He loved pounding with the hammer and helping daddy. The thing he loved most though was racing the cars. He did not want to leave the racing cars. We probably watched for 20 minutes before we could drag him away. The pictures aren't the greatest. I forgot my camera. Thankfully my mom was there and was taking pictures with her phone. Thanks mom!
Just a few things that have been happening lately.
Finger painting with shaving cream turned into James painting everything.
We went to the park, but he was not a fan of the swings.
He just wanted to run around.
We also went to the duck pond with the Johnansens.
We went out to eat and James got a balloon dinosaur which he loved and is cuddling.
Sometimes he plugs his ears and starts yelling like he doesn't want to listen to me.
With the cold weather we had to get creative. He loved dumping the noodles and beans. I loved it too until he started throwing them.
Cutie pants in mom's sunglasses.
Our neighbor Paisley and James are good friends. They get along well and sometimes even try to kiss each other.
James has learned to love dinosaurs. Maybe its due to the fact that we go to the dinosaur museum. A lot. Either way its pretty cute. Side note, every time James watches this video he always roars like a dinosaur every time I ask on the video.
James and Katie love to play together. It was so cute seeing them dancing.
One of James' most favorite things in the whole wide world is cars of any variety. Whenever we go outside even if its just from the house to the car, he always points at the road and says, "Car!" or "Bus!". All the smaller vehicles are cars and the bigger ones are buses. He loves to drive his cars and "buses" around all day. And every time we read stories he always has to point out the car in the picture. Recently we introduced him to the movie "Cars". He feel in love and will actually sit and watch it for a half an hour. Seeing that he has never cared or been interested in watching tv or movies ever before in his life, this is quite a game changer. We had tried for awhile to at least get him to sit for just a few minutes to watch a movie but he was always too busy and had too much to do and too many toys to play with. Now I can actually cook dinner without him trying to climb up my legs. Awesome!
Because James loves cars to much, I thought it would be a fun idea to make a cardboard car for him. James colored and decorated the box while I cut out the lights and wheels. I put it all together then stuck him in it. As evidenced by the picture, he hated it. He did not want it around his neck and he didn't like that he was somewhat confined within the box. Oh well. Maybe someday he'll warm up to the idea.
So I just wanted to share this video that I found. I wish I could put into words how much joy fills me when I watch this. What an amazing opportunity these young people have to go all over the world and share their testimonies and knowledge with strangers. I know that the announcement for the new missionary age for both young men and young women is inspired by the Lord and these young people that are going out on missions are preparing the world for the second coming of Jesus Christ. The work of the Lord is continually growing and I only hope that I can do what I can to prepare my children to share their testimonies and further that work. I seriously love this video and it makes me so proud to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. What an amazing group of young men and women!
