Funny and spoiled

I love James to pieces!  He is constantly cracking us up with the things he says and does.  For instance at dinner the other night we were having corn on the cob.  We cut some off the cob and put it on his plate.  James LOVES corn so it was gone in no time and left him begging for more "pa corn" as he calls it (Funny because we really don't eat popcorn all that often.).  I had eaten most of mine so I just gave him the cob. It took him a second to figure out what to do with it but when he finally got it, his eyes got big and he looked pretty surprised.  All he could say before he scarfed down the rest was, "OH UMMY!"  Gregg and I laughed pretty hard.  Funny boy.

Gregg and and I have really tried to get involved with our new little community and one of the best ways is to attend the high school events.  Thankfully we know all about them since Gregg is there everyday.  A week ago it was homecoming which is pretty big here.  They have a parade and make it a community event to crown the homecoming king and queen.  On the day of the parade James and I met up with Gregg and we walked to Main to get a better view.  There weren't a whole lot of people where we were standing and James was the only kid around.  I wasn't expecting candy but the high school kids had gone all out.  They threw him TONS of candy.  There were multiple comments from the kids in the parade about how cute James was so he needed candy or how they had bought way too much candy and since James was the only kid around they unloaded.  At first I was just going to take a hand full but an elderly lady standing by pulled out a plastic bag and the other adults standing there proceeded to help pick up all the candy and put it into the bag for James.  It was very different from Blanding where you have to fight the 30 kids around for one piece of candy. Spoiled boy.

New Bed

With James turning 2 and having a baby coming soon, Gregg and I decided it was time to transfer James to a toddler bed.  I was way more nervous about the whole process than Gregg.  James is so active I just knew it was going to be torture.  Plus the few times he has come into our bed, it is a game hiding under the blankets.  However it had to be done some time.  Gregg wanted to make him the bed so even with the start of school, he put together a cute little bed for James.  To help make the transition more exciting I made a new blanket for him.  I hoped that all these new things would make it easy.  When Gregg brought the bed home and put it together, he was pretty excited.  He kept climbing on and off and playing on his new bed.

The first night was not terrible but it was not easy breezy either.  He kept asking mommy and daddy to "sleep" or "lay down" by him.  I laid by him for a minute then gave him a kiss and left.  He was not happy.  He screamed and cried for a little while before he finally calmed down.  On the plus side, he stayed in his bed.  I think at this point he didn't quite realize that he could get out and move around.  Being confined to a crib his whole life previous, I'm not sure the thought crossed his mind.

The next day was better.  I laid down by him at nap time and fell asleep by him (This happens often.  I lay down by him to read him stories and guess who falls asleep first.)  Either way he good with me there so he went to sleep with no problems.  That night after we tucked him in, he started to cry again.  This time it only lasted about five minutes before he fell asleep.  Once again he stayed in his bed.

The next night he figured out that he could get out of bed.  Thankfully his door his kind of loud so Gregg and I could tell when he was trying to leave his room.  That night I think we had to put back in his bed a few times.  Each time we went in he would cling to us and ask us to lay down.  It was so hard to resist his sad plea for comfort with tears running down his face.  It made me feel like a horrible mother.

Since then it has gotten better.  Night time he has learned to stay in his bed and the crying is only lasting a few minutes.  At nap time I still have had to go in and put him back in his bed and remind him that it is not play time.  On the whole he was done well.  He only fell out of bed once on the first night.  Some down sides are that he isn't sleeping at long as he used to.  He is up around 6:20 every morning instead of 7:30 and his naps are usually an hour to an hour and a half as opposed to 2 hours or longer.  I'm ok with the shorter naps since it doesn't seem to make him cranky but an hour in the morning is killer for me.  However we are adjusting. (PS that is not the blanket I made for him.  I am no where near that good.)

Lemmon, South Dakota

So we've been here in Lemmon for about 6 weeks now and we already are enjoying ourselves.  When we came up to interview, I was not impressed by the scenery but the summers here are gorgeous.  Little green rolling hills covered with corn, wheat, soy or sunflowers with little estuaries everywhere.  The weather isn't too hot which I love (but could be a bad sign for how cold the winters will be.).  Our apartment is bigger than we anticipated with a few new things like carpet, linoleum flooring, oven, and AC unit.  We can't complain.  James has adjusted well and loves that openness.  We go to the park frequently which he loves and has discovered a love for slides.    One of the other places we've discovered is Shadehill Lake.  It is only a few miles south of Lemmon and is perfect for picnics, throwing rocks and digging in the sand.  Its a great place to relax.  Gregg has been very busy getting ready for school.  He spends most of his days in his classrooms prepping and cleaning.  We miss him but I guess it was time to get back to reality after 6 weeks of vacation.

I love this boy!

We went to the county fair and James LOVED all the animals especially the cows.

This happens a lot. Running everywhere.

There are fields and fields of these. If you look close, you can see yellow going on forever.

Swinging with dad.

At the lake throwing rocks.

Shadehill Lake.

James will find the water wherever he goes.

Sliding.

James usually likes bugs from a distance but he was pretty excited about the little grasshopper that landed on his hand.

Summer Vacation 2013 - Part 6: Salt Lake and Manti

For the last part of our trip we headed up to Salt Lake to spend some time with Laura and Jared and to head down to Manti for Gregg's friends wedding.  Friday we packed up the U-Haul then headed down to Genola to meet up with some old friends and Gregg's old boss for pizza.  It was un to catch up with everyone.  Unfortunately we forgot James' shoes so he couldn't go wandering after the chickens.  The pizza was homemade and fantastic.  We are definitely wanting to invest in an outside pizza oven whenever we finally get a house. 

I was really excited to go to the Manti Temple, never having been inside before but hearing that it is so gorgeous.  Unfortunately James was so distraught by being left with someone he didn't know that I stayed with him during the sealing.  Oh well.  It was a gorgeous day and James and I enjoyed wandering the temple grounds.  Later that day we attended a luncheon and the reception. 

Monday morning we got up early and headed out on our 13 hour drive to Lemmon, but I'll write more about that later.

Summer Vacation 2013 - Part 5: Blanding

We had to head down to Blanding for the 4th!  This time Laura and Jared and their girls were there along with Drew.  Drew was a last minute thing but I'm so glad he came.  The 4th was a blast like usual.  At the parade James figured out the whole candy thing and was running down the street to get more candy.  We had our annual water fight.  I love to watch the boys take each other out, James however, did not like it when daddy was under attack.  We went to the Blanding swimming pool for the first time.  I loved it and so did James.

More kiddie pool with Katie and Kylie.

Waiting for the parade.

Handsome little boy.

Waiting for candy.

Wrong way!

Clips for the water fight.

Fireworks!

Summer Vacation 2013 - Part 4: Orem

Gregg's parents were also taking a road trip vacation this summer and we headed up to Orem to spend some time with them.  We spent the time at Grandma Witt's house even though she wasn't there.  We did a lot of shopping, stalking up on things we knew were going to be cheaper in Utah than small town South Dakota.  We played a lot of games, went up Provo Canyon and watched some baseball. (We failed with the pictures once again.  Thankfully Grandma was on top of it and shared these with us.)

Playing with dad.

Helping wash grandpa's truck.

Visiting with Aunt Amber.  Ignore the fact that my child is stuffing his face.

Swimming!

Summer Vacation 2013 - Part 3: Blanding

We headed up to see my parents for about a week.  It was nice to relax at their house.  James didn't see cousins everyday but he made quick friends with the little boys down the street.  They were so cute.  They even came to the door to ask if James could come out and play even though they are a few years older than James.

Racing cars down the driveway is always a must.

Racing with Emma.

Playing in the kiddie pool.

How cute is that face!