New Rotation and the Wind

I love Jon's new rotation. At least for the next two weeks, he only works half days. He has the afternoons off! It will be great for James's flu shot on Friday. I thought I would be going alone, but now daddy can meet us there. Jon was also able to watch James yesterday, while I was in a doctor's office.

Jon also seems to be liking Peds. already. Just have to see if it stays that way over the next 6 weeks.

Two mornings ago, we woke up to a fire engine (lights going) blocking the end of our street. Jon had to go around the block to get out to the main road, where it was down to one lane. Jon said it looked like there had been power lines down or something. There were burn marks in the grass and on the road.

Yesterday morning, we woke up to this outside our apartment. I was glad it was not a bigger tree. We have been having some really strong wind the last few days, which seems to be gone so far today.

An Ordinary Day

This is what James does on most days. He plays on the floor and watches a kids show on television.

He is watching Dora the Explorer and playing with his Tonka Truck.

Catch Up

There have been quite a few things happening recently, which I have wanted to blog about, but have not had the time (a reason will be forth coming, hopefully). I am going to try and do a quick catching up of some events.

1- Stake Conference was three weeks ago. It was rally good. I enjoyed both sessions. Luckily Jon was able to get off in time to go with James and I to the Saturday Adult Session, and then he did not have to go in on Sunday. One of the Young Women from the Wauseon Branch, and a friend of mine, spoke on Sunday. She did a wonderful job.

2- James and I have been enjoying our zoo membership. After one of the times we have been this last month, we stopped to visit a friend. James enjoyed playing on the hard wood floors. He could move more easily, but still backwards. He kept getting stuck under the couch. He learned he could not roll while he was stuck. Eventually, he decided to try and pick a dark spot in the wood off the floor.

3- This last week I was able to go to the temple with my friend, Denise, and her sister, JoLyn. It was supposed to be the Stake Young Women Presidency, but things did not work out last minute. I am glad we were still able to go. It was nice to get away for a little while and spend some time with my friend before she moves away. We also enjoyed a late lunch at Applebee's (once we found one that was still open).

4- James is good at using his teeth. To eat or to bite anything close to his mouth. Here is a good shot of them.

5- I was able to vote in the Primary Elections earlier this month. We will be getting a new mayor in November. The sad part about when I voted was I did not know about it until the day of the election. I was only able to research the mayor candidates and the issues on the ballot. There were also some City Council Members on the ballot, but since I did not know anything about them, I did not feel comfortable just voting for someone there. I hope to be more prepare for the November 3 Elections.

6- James has discovered that he can pull the movies off the bottom shelf (in the background here). He love to pull one out and look at it. Then set it aside. Pull another out and look at it. Then set it aside. I am guesses he is looking for a certain movie, because he will eventually just look at one of them for a long time. Some times laughing and jabbering at the movie case. Here he stopped with The Pacifier.

7- Last Friday, Jon was done with his Internal Medicine Clerkship! Yeah!!!! We went shopping for some things Jon needs, a coat, a suit, and some shoes. We did get him some shoes, and he finally talked me into some boots. He has been trying for almost 6 years. I was looking for some new shoes for church, because there was a buy one get one half off sale. I could not find a style I liked. Jon suggested the boots, so I tired them on. There are some benefits to them. I can wear my cotton socks (since I am allergic to nylons), and no one makes fun of me for my allergy. I do not have to shave my legs and no one will know if I have or not. Warmer in the winter. Jon really likes them. I have new shoe to wear to church. I might get a picture to post soon. They are just black boots. (While putting on my new boots, I also learned I has some muscle loss in my right leg, but that is a story for another day.)

8- James love to have daddy around, too.

9- This last weekend, I was able to attend the Relief Society Broadcast at our church building. I enjoyed the talks and was glad I was able to watch. I also was able to go to my own ward and enjoy the time I had there, since I would not be able to go back until November due to my stake calling. Then Sunday night, I went to an Open House for my friend, Denise. Since she will be pulling out of town this week, the ward had an open house to say good-bye and good luck. I will get to see her again this week before she goes, but it was still a sad day.

10- I will end with Cheese! James LOVES cheese! He will always pick out the orange (cheddar) cheese first, then the white cheese, and then eat whatever is left.

Signs of Mobility

A little while ago, James whacked his head against our TV stand while he was rolling along. We realized we needed to get something for the sharp edges (which is taken care of now). I know this is the first of many as he gets more mobile. Here are a few pictures of James and his first signs of mobility. Right after it happened. Daddy was trying to comfort him. A few hours after. The next day. About a week later.
With as hard as he hit his head, it did not bruise like I thought it would. It is probably better that way.

Happy Birthday

It's Slinky! It's Slinky!

For fun, it's a wonderful toy! It's fun for a girl and a boy!

James loves to play with this slinky. It is fun to watch. I finally got a video of it. Most of the time when he sees the camera, he gets so excited he drops the slinky.

Here's the Mail. It Never Fails...

Thanks so much for the package, Grandma Brower. Here is James in his new jammies. He likes to chew on my brush after he gets out of the bath.

Annual Apple Picking

For Family Home Evening, we went to MacQueens and picked some apples. We split half a bushel with the Toller Family (and a few to the Dockter family). I was amazed at how full the trees were this year and how warm it was. The last two years we have gone, it has been colder and there have not been too many apples within reach. It is probably because we have gone in October before. I love going to MacQueens!

James seemed to enjoy himself too. Here he is with his own apple in various stages of eating. Here is Justin Sacks lifting his son, Cohen, up to pick some apples. I think the tree ate Jon! Reach! Robby even joined in the fun. Steve picked the ones just out of our reach.

Lima, OH and the Rest of the Weekend

Yesterday, we started back up with Unit Conferences. We got to leave the house at 6:30 a.m. so we could get to the Lima Ward Conference on time. It ended up not taking as long as we thought to get there, but that gave me time to feed James breakfast and get him dressed in his church clothes.

A little fun fact: The LDS Lima Chapel is on Brower Road. Brower is my maiden name. Kind of fun.

The conference went really well. Since it has been awhile, either I have forgotten or everyone has changed things. It did not seem like a repeat from the one before. The youth of our stake still continue to amaze me. They really are awesome!

After the conference, we (the Stake Young Women Presidency) met with Lima's Young Women Presidency for a few minutes. We will be going back sometime before November for some training, since their President was not there, and they had a lot of questions.

Then, we had another Meeting with the Stake Young Women and Stake Young Men Presidencies. We had a few more things to discuss, which we did not have time for at our Thursday night meeting. We were finally able to head for home at 1:30 p.m. Luck for us James slept on the drive to and the drive home.

We walked through our door at 3:00 p.m. Then, we just lounged the rest of the day.

Next week, we get to go to our ward. The next week is General Conference. Then, we have three conferences in a row. We will not get to go to our own ward for the entire month of October (unless we want 6.5 hours, not including travel time, of church one of the days).

Rewind a little. Saturday night, I had a Young Women Camp Meeting, a Youth Planning Meeting, and then Standards Night. I was really glad when Jon got home an hour or so before I had to leave and said he would stay home and watch James, so I would not have to bring him with me. It made the night easier.

The Camp Meeting and the Youth Planning Meeting were at the same time. At first I was going to go to the Planning Meeting. Then, our counselor who is over Camp let us know she would be moving the beginning of October, so I was going to go to the Camp Meeting. Then Saturday night, I was asked to go to the Planning Meeting.

When we got to the Stake Center, there was this loud, high pitched, screeching, noise on one side of the building. We had to change the location of our meetings, call the local bishop, and hope the noise could be stopped before Standard's night began. Bishop Eckel seemed to know exactly what it was and how to stop it.

The meetings went well. It seems the youth really want more dances, but we can only have so many activities, so we tacked on a dance to all the activities we could and kept the same number of just dances from last year. Here is the only picture I took from the night. I had planned to take more, but I just did not. We also had Bennett's Pizza at the meetings.

As far as I could tell, Standards night went well. We had the youth help plan it. They decided to go along with the Chruch-wide Theme from the year, 1 Timothy 4:12, "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." They took each of the different areas to be an example of the believers and connected it with a standard in the For the Strength of Youth. For example, word was linked to language. Then, they gave us a list of possible teachers, which we chose four (we had four classes, faith and spirit were put together and purity was left out, because they did not think anyone would go to that one). The youth also wanted one class for all the Young Women to go to, and one for all the Young Men. They chose Sister Eckel, the Stake Relief Society President, and President Beck, First Counselor in the Stake Presidency, to teach those classes. Then they decided they wanted Sister Chase and President Davis (Stake Young Women and Young Men President) to speak at the beginning, and President Smith (Stake President) to speak at the end.

Saturday Night, I left at 4:00 and got home at 9:00. That is not too bad for a Stake Activity with Meetings before. Now it is on to the next one, the Youth Olympic Games.

Washington 16 - USC 13

In honor of the University of Washington beating the University of Southern California, a team previously ranked number 3 in the nation, I am posting this picture of James. Jon is a big time Washington fan. My mom made this blanket for Jon. I had the blanket spread out on the floor and James wrapped himself up in it with his rolling.

Washington is now ranked (24) for the first time in a few years!

GO HUSKIES!

I think Jon and I are in trouble. This is a new favorite thing for James.

Sad Day

Last night, we had our monthly Stake Meetings. They went well, and I think we are ready for Standards Night on Saturday, and the Lima Ward Conference on Sunday. I did get some really sad (for me happy for her) news. A good friend of mine is leaving in two weeks. She is joining her family in Washington. You see her husband started a new job in Bellingham, WA. Her daughter decided to go out there to start school. She just found out she has a job out there. She was going to stay here until their house sold. However, she decided that since she has a job out there, she is leaving and will come check on the house occasionally. I am so sad to see her go. She was the first person who talked to Jon and I at church. She helped me through my pregnancy, so my back would not hurt too much. She gave James the nickname, "Jimmy G." She has been a great friend to my family, and I wish her luck as she goes to Washington. We will miss you terribly, Denise!

A Day at the Zoo

Well, it was more like an hour and a half, not the whole day. James, some of our friends, and I went to the zoo yesterday. It was a really nice day to be at the zoo. The temperature was really pleasant, and there was not a lot of people there.

James got to see a little owl close up. We also got a better look at Nature's Neighborhood. I know it was a cool place, but the only other time I saw it, there were so many people, I just quickly looked through it. My favorite part of the zoo was the ant exhibit in "The Forest." If you haven't seen this part in Nature's Neighborhood. You should check it out. It was really cool!

I just have to say, "I love my zoo! I love my zoo!" (it from the commercial). I also love my zoo pass. It has more than paid for itself, and I am glad to support my own zoo by buying the pass through the Toledo Zoo.

What Matters Most

What matters most to you? Here is a video made by my church from a talk by President Monson.

It is a really good video and has made me think about if there is someone I need to write, or do better at showing those who matter to me that I do care about them. Anyway, watch the video and think about it.

Ohio State: Reinventing history

I read this on Sports Illistrated's College Football Page yesterday. I could not believe it. It is written by Stewart Mandel, a senior writer for SI.com, in his article "College Football Overdrive."

Ohio State: Reinventing history

From my perch high in the press box at Ohio State on Saturday night, I was looking around the interior of the always-wondrous Horseshoe when I noticed something peculiar. On the facade beneath the upper deck of the north end zone, the school lists seven national championship seasons. One of them is 1970.

Some quick research reveals that in 1970, the Buckeyes finished second behind Texas in the coaches poll ... and fifth in the AP poll (which crowned Nebraska). According to the treasure trove that is College Football Data Warehouse, the title that Ohio State so proudly displays was bestowed by the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame -- and even that one was shared with Texas.

Hey, as long as you're at it, Buckeyes, why not tack on 1969? No love for Matthews Grid Ratings? And what about that '73 banner from Foundation for the Analysis of Competitions and Tournaments? There's still plenty of room on that wall.

Hot Dogs

James loves hot dogs! He ate a whole one for lunch the other day. Next to cheese (extra sharp cheddar), hot dogs seem to be his favorite finger food. Here he is actually eating hot dogs with mashed potatoes and cheese.

Sick Little Boy = Little Sleep

James has his first cold. He just has a running nose and a little bit of a cough, but he is miserable. Yesterday, I held him most of the day, and his normally squirmy body, just snuggled. He napping has been nonexistent or very short. He did not want to go to bed last night. I finally put in Cars and held him and he finally gave in to how tired he was. I sure hope he feels better son.

Here is a picture of James with the TV remote. He loves buttons. Every time he sees Jon or me changing the channel, he wants the remote.

Today is a very significant day in the US. It also is significant in my life. Eight years ago today is the date on my mission call. Yep, that is right. September 11, 2001. I left on my mission when I was 22. Crazy day. I did receive my call the next day (Idaho Falls in not too far by mail from Salt Lake City), but I feel there is something significant about the date on my call. Maybe it is just an interesting fact.

Happy Birthday

James just wanted to say... to his cousin.

Do I Look Like an Idiot?

My mom sent me this and I laughed so hard. I thought I would pass the laugh along. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday

James wants to say...