Silence is always suspicious

Awhile back Gregg and I were skyping with my parents when we realized that James had gone silent.  All parents know that silence with a toddler is always suspicious.  Gregg went to check things out and this is what he found.

James had found that my lotion was with in reach.  Need I say more?

The Blizzard

Gregg came home Thursday with bad news.  According to the teacher that he drives to McIntosh with said the storm was going to be bad, with up to 16 inches of snow.  She was not kidding.  The storm started Friday morning.  The snow started out slow but then the wind picked up as did the snow.  By noon there was at least 4 inches.  The wind and snow just continued to get worse.  The power started to flicker and eventually went  out for good around 2:30.  By then it was pretty much a white out.  We couldn't see out our windows because they were covered with ice and snow.  But looking outside we couldn't see more than 100 feet.  The winds were blowing the snow totally horizontal.  I'm not really sure how fast the wind was but probably 40 mph at least.  The storm didn't let up until Saturday around noon.  Gregg ventured out a couple hours before the storm let up to look around and take some pictures.  The wind had blown the snow into huge drifts.  Gregg said some of the drifts went almost to his waist.  The trees were still full of leaves so they couldn't handle the heavy snow.  Branches were everywhere and the smaller trees were completely bent in half or the tops snapped off.  The storm had done some seriously damage.  We were still without power but no one could get out to fix anything.  Later Saturday afternoon the snowplows and tractors finally made it out.  Apparently a number of power poles were down.  It took them quite a while to restore power.  We finally got ours back around 1 a.m.  Almost 36 hours without power and heat.  We survived but definitely ready for heat and power.  James however was just anxious to play in the snow.

Our windows.

These trees are at least 12 ft. tall.  It is now totally bent in half.

These trees look more like bushes now.

Our car.

The city tried to plow but then the storm got too bad.

The wind bending the trees.

This is what we do with trapped inside for 2 days.  James stacked peanut butter jars, all by himself. Quite talented!

The snow drift around our car is taller than James.

The Birthday!

I'm not sure that James really got the concept that it was his birthday until he got presents and and treats.  Oh well it was pretty entertaining to watch.

Car cakes.  It was an experiment.

The best 2 years...

Well at least best 2 years as of yet.  I think back at the time I had James, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into or the incredible little boy I get the privilege to raise.  He has changed my life and definitely made me a better person.

James' middle name should be "Nonstop".  From the time he wakes up in the morning til bed time, he just goes.  There are few things that he will actually sit still for for  more than few minutes, stories and some movies (if the movie has cars, trains, or Mr. Incredible than he is mesmerized.).  He loves the iPad and is content to play that for a little while but that is it.  I try to color and have him do small crafts but those only last so long.  Even when we go to the playground he'll go down the slide, run to other end of the playground, run back, climb up the steps, climb down, run around, climb back up, go down the slide, etc.  Gregg and I have tried to have him lay by us in bed but it is disaster.  James just rolls around, climbs in and out of the blankets, twists, turns, putting his face right up next to ours and breathing heavily.  He seriously wears me out.

Because James is always on the go and his deep love for balls whatever shape or size, he has developed a love of sports.  I really don't think it matters what sport either as long as there is a ball.  He can pitch the ball better than any 2 yr old I know of.  Seriously I am not kidding.  He can rocket that ball (The best thing about playing baseball with him is that I don't ever have to shag the ball.  James will do it ever time.).  He can kick the ball pretty far and hard.  Recently he has learned to spike the ball and does dang good too.  One of his most favorite places to go is the "big dunk hoop" which is the gym at the school.  He loves to go and just kick and throw the ball around and he is constantly asking to go to the "big dunk hoop".  One thing that this love of balls has done for him, is made him tough.  He can get hit, bonked, banged, fall down, run into, whatever it is and rarely cries.  Sometimes he'll come up to us with a sad look on his face and ask us to "kiss better" then he is good and back to whatever he was doing before.

Even though James is tough, he has a sensitive side and will freely give hugs and kisses even when one isn't requested.  He is very particular, though, about things.  They have to be just so before he can move on, like mommy sit in the right spot or daddy standing up instead of sitting to play catch.  He'll keep telling you until you get it right.  James is very clean about some things.  He'll throw away his trash or put his dishes in the sink without being asked.  He is really good about throwing diapers away even though it may take him a minute to decide which trash can to put it in.

One thing that James excels at is eating.  He'll eat almost anything.  Granted somethings he may need some bribing but its a good thing we can bribe him with water.  Breakfast is by far his favorite.  He'll put down way more than I can.  Pancakes are his favorite.

James also is starting to say really funny things.  He came out of his room from a nap the other day and asked, "How you doin'?" in a very manly, Italian accent kind of way.  He'll gabber your ear off and be so intent about it.  He knows a lot of words and can imitate almost anything.  He says short sentences, but when he is really trying to tell you something, its mostly gabber with a few distinct words.

I could go on and on about this cutest little dude but it is so hard to really capture his personality and happiness in a few short paragraphs.  He may be extremely stubborn at times (which he does not get from me) and may try my patience but I'm so glad he is mine.

Just a video of the best sound in the whole world.

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.