Santa

Here are the pictures of James on Santa's lap. He really wanted that candy cane!

"Santa has more candy canes! I wonder if I can get those too?"

James loves candy canes!

"Could you all leave me alone while I eat this?"

Christmas Videos

Here are a few videos from our Christmas morning.

Christmas Day

Current Marathon: Harry Potter

We had a great Christmas. James even seemed to enjoy it. Before presents, we read the Christmas story from the four Gospels and the Book of Mormon. Here is a slide show of our Christmas morning.

After the presents, we got ready for the day and headed off to the Andersons. They are a family in our ward. We have been at their house for Christmas lunch the last two years. There was lots of good food. We also enjoyed the music room, where we played the drums and some other musical instruments. We even sang some Christmas Hymns. James also brought his two new toys with buttons and enjoyed playing with those as well.

The rest of the day we watched Christmas Movies and played with our new toys. It was so nice to spend our Christmas as a family in our home here in Toledo. We missed extended family, but it is so much more relaxing to not travel and stay in someone else's house. We hope everyone had a great Christmas!

One Year Pictures

Current Marathon:  Star Trek

I have a lot of posts I am going to try and finish in the next few days for Christmas and such.  The post will show up before this one when I am able to finish them.  Sorry it has taken me so long to get some thing up here.

These are some more of James at one year.  Enjoy!

Raclette Dinner

Current Marathon:  Christmas Movies

For Christmas Eve, We started the day by playing basketball at the Morse Center on campus. James did not really enjoy it, because he wanted to play with the ball too. Jon won at around the world. Then we walked a little, because James enjoys that.

We had dinner with our friends the Carters and the Ziemers. Jon and I started a tradition when we got married of having Raclette for our Christmas Eve dinner. Jon had Raclette when he was in Switzerland. We had been lucky to be able to find cheese every year so far.

We have also enjoyed sharing the tradition with our friends. Here is a picture from after dinner.

James enjoyed playing with the Ziemer children.

He really liked taking apart the train tracks.

We also played games, Pandemic and Puerto Rico.

My mom always makes jammies for all her grand kids. These are the only pictures I was able to get of James in his because his diaper ended up leaking and I had to change him.

These pictures were taken at midnight. James would not sleep until he was home in his bed (he did sleep a little bit, which is why we did not go home sooner). He was really tired and really whinny, which explains his face in this picture, but this picture, shows his jammies best.

Christmas Eve

Current marathon:  Lord of the Rings

This is my 600th post. Jon said I needed to mention that. I cannot believe that tomorrow is Christmas. Yesterday, James had his one-year doctor appointment. He is doing well. He is not anemic. His head is still in the 99th percentile, but his weight and height have dropped a little in percentile. He is still plenty healthy though. He did well with his shots, and has seemed fine today. I am glad there are not any lasting affects this time.


We mostly stayed home and watched movies the rest of the day. Then last night, we thought we lost over computer. We got a virus. Jon was able to get all our data backed up, and luckily was able to get rid of the problem, but we will probably wipe our hard drive clean and reinstall everything just to make sure. It was a pain, but I am glad we have Internet today and all our data is safely backed up on an external hard drive.

James likes to stand in front of the television.

The TV stand is the perfect height for him. Here we were watching Narnia.

New (Borrowed) Toy

Current marathon:  Lord of the Rings

Yesterday, we started the day by going to the gym.  It felt so good to get some exercise.  It was fun to walk with Jon too.  James liked hanging out in his stroller as we walked around and around on the track.  Then he laughed while mom and dad lifted some weights.

Then, we finished Ocean's 13.  Afterwards, Jon had another dentist appointment.  Then our friends, the Carters, came over and we watched the two newer Batman movies, followed by the BYU bowl game, where BYU creamed Oregon St.  James had a hard time going to bed with all the excitement.  Finally, at 11:30, he went down without a fight.  He was totally exhausted.

James loves this new toy.   Thanks, Renae, for letting us borrow it. 

He would play with it all day if he did not need naps and food.

So Tired

Yesterday morning, Jon took a family from our ward to the airport.  On his way home he stopped at McDonalds.  It was kind of fun to have a breakfast just the two of us, even if it was at 6:30 in the morning.

Later that day, Jon had his first dentist visit in more than nine years. His teeth look good especially if you take into account the length of time just mentioned. He has to have some cavities filled, and he is supposed to get a night guard since he grinds his teeth.


We have also started our movie marathons. We have watched the two Narnia movies and are currently in the middle of the three Ocean's movies. We love to do this over Christmas Break!

This is James one morning.

He was so tired. He laid his head down while eating his breakfast. It was really cute.

Gingerless Houses

Yesterday was the Christmas program at church. I love how much music there always is. Jon sang in a quartet, and did a great job. Jon and I also helped out in the nursery, so James got to go to the nursery again. He seemed to enjoy it. He is the same size as some of the kids in there, but he cannot walk yet, so he kept getting run over.

Last night, we made graham cracker houses with some friends from our ward that are still around. It was lots of fun. James even seemed to enjoy it. Here are the finished products. Jon made a church.

From the back.

From the front.

My house fell when I finished the roof, but it did not fall all the way over, so I just left it.

From the top.

Here is a picture of James. Recently, this is how we find him sleeping.

Jon calls it the "stink bug" position.

Santa Clause Is Coming to Town

Last night we went to our ward party.  We decided to go, since there was an email sent out Friday telling everyone not to bring anything with ginger.  It was fun.  We got pictures with James on Santa's lap.  Those should be coming at some point.  Here is James hanging out in the stroller while Mom and Dad ate dinner and shared with him. 

James got another candy cane from Santa, but we got it away from him before he made a sticky mess everywhere.  The Elders in our ward did a funny skit. 

The kids really loved it. 

I liked that there were five characters but only two actors.

Candy Cane

Friday night, James discovered candy canes. He loves them! I had to give him a bath after he enjoyed his first one, a green apple Starburst candy cane.

Also on Friday, we switched rooms, so James has a warmer room. He seems to really like it. Now he can also play in it, since the sewing stuff is in Jon and my room. He likes to go in there, but always watches for us to come and get him, as if he should not be in there. I am going to move some of the toys from the living room to his room soon. I have enjoyed having the colder room too. It would get really warm in the other room, which is great for James.

Dryer

James discovered the dryer this morning. He thought it was so funny when I tossed the clothes in and they hit the back of the dryer.

At first, he jumped, but then he giggled every time I tossed more in. I could not get him to look at me when I tool a picture.

He was too interested with what he had found.

Jon took his test yesterday for the end of his family medicine rotation. Now, he is off for Christmas break! We are going to enjoy some time relaxing here in Toledo over the next two weeks.

Baptism

Last night, we had an awesome experience and a scary experience. We went to the baptism of two kids in our ward, Gabe DuBois and Shelby VanWormer. They are cousins. Gabe has recently been diagnosed with a form of lung cancer which is rare in children. It was an awesome experience to see the two baptised on the same night. Jon was asked to be one of the witnesses and to stand in the circle when they were given the gift of the Holy Ghost. Jon said it was a really amazing experience.

Then a little later, I started to go into anaphylatic shock. My allergic reaction started when I walked in the church, which is in the process of being painted (with latex paint), but what made me start to have breathing problems was gingerbread cookies for the refreshments (along with many other things). Benadryl was taken, and Jon watched me the rest of the night to see if we would have to rush to the hospital, and call someone in the middle of the night to help with James. I still am not feeling totally myself, but I will be okay for now.

This helped us decided that we will not be going to our Ward Christmas Party on Saturday. The theme is "Christmas Around the World." Ethnic dishes mixed with this time of year has a high possibility of ginger. We have been trying to decided if we would risk it or not, but having another reaction like that so close together would really not be good. So Jon and I will find another way to celebrate, probably go out to dinner at a ginger-free restaurant. I am a little bummed because I was hoping to get a picture with James on Santa's lap, but I guess we will try again next year.

I hope everyone has a merry and safe Christmas!

Hiding

I cannot believe there are only 9 days until Christmas! I think the green grass outside makes it hard to believe it is almost December 25. I really hope we have a white Christmas, but the forecast is not looking promising. :(

I finally got a video of James playing peak-a-boo.

James loves to have blankets over his face. He just giggles and kicks his feet in pure glee whenever he can get a blanket and cover his face. It is so funny! He does not get that from me. I hate to have blankets over my head.

Electric Outlets?

Someone needs to stay away from those electric outlets or really needs a haircut! 

This it James after his bath last night. 

He is in need of a haircut.

Trouble with Climbing

James has been climbing on everything. Just so you know this video is a few weeks old. Here he is playing on a box of soda, when he sees Mom and tries to peek around the corner. He falls at the end and received his first fat lip by hitting a jar of pickles (in the bag). Poor guy!

Busy Sunday

Today was a busy day. I felt like I was at the church all day. There was our normal church meetings, which were hard for me since they painted the chapel this last week with, of course, latex paint. I had to sit out in the hall for Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School. Then I went to visit Young Women's on the other side of the building. This week they are painting walls in the rest of the building. I should take a benadryll before church next week.

Then I also had two meetings with Ward Young Women's Presidencies, and a Stake Young Women's Presidency meeting. All of the meetings went well and fast, but it still made for a long day. I hope what we had was helpful to the Ward Young Women's Presidencies.

Enough about me. Here is a picture of James.

He got some shoes and boats on Saturday. The shoes are one size too big, so he has a little room to grow. The boats we got a few sizes too big so that hopefully they will fit him next year. This year will we put the boats on his feet when we go for walks and he is sitting in the stroller.

National Poinsettia Day

13 days until Christmas!  The following is taken from a Newsletter from Town and Country Gardens in Idaho Falls where I used to work.

Poinsettias have a special day all their own! By an Act of Congress, December 12 was set aside as National Poinsettia Day. The date marks the death of Joel Roberts Poinsett, who is credited with introducing the native Mexican plant to the United States. The purpose of the day is to enjoy the beauty of this popular holiday plant.

So, be sure to give someone you love a poinsettia today! Poinsettias are highly prized throughout the world and widely beloved as the living symbol of the Christmas Season. No other flower can make such a brilliant show of bright red throughout the festive weeks of December and January.

Christmas Package

We tried to get our Christmas gifts off to our parents, but he would not fit in the box.  Jon and I will have to come up with something else to send.

Actually, what really happened is that James crawled into this box and was trying to close it, but could not get it closed while he was in it.  It was really funny to watch him try.  This box has kept him entertained for a few days.

Long Day

Yesterday was definitely a one of those days where not much goes right. It started with me setting James' box or Cheerios down on the table, and it not being steady. I had just opened the box and it was still open. There were Cheerios everywhere! I thought about get James out of his high chair to have him "help" me clean up my mess, but decided it was probably better to quickly clean it up.

Then, I got to have a cavity filled. It is actually a tooth that has been a problem for years. I have had two other dentists "fix" the problem before. Let me say I was not too impressed with the dentists where we lived before Toledo. I hope this time it is really fixed. This time I did not have to pay for it out of pocket since I have insurance that covers it.

Next, while walking to my neighbor's house. I did not quite get all the way off the curb, so I fell. I have James in my arms, so my knees took all the force of our weight and the fall. Luckily, my left knee (not the one that was scoped) was the one worse off. I was a little worried that I would hurt my newly fixed knee, but aside form some nice scrapes and bruises, it feels all right. James was just fine, and smiled up at me like it was a fun game we were playing. My legs were covered in mud and my shoe was really scraped up, too. I am really sore already today.

The day ended with, while making dinner, I kept dropping things on the floor. I had to go back to bathing James in the sink (I was just barely able to kneel and give him baths in the tub again), which meant getting the dishes done (one of my least favorite chores) and cleaning the sink. I finally got James to bed, and was taking out the garbage, when the day got better. When I walk out the door, it was snowing in beautiful, big, fluffy flakes. It is 42 degrees as I am typing this so most of the snow has now melted, but it was a truly wonderful thing to happen at the end of such a bad day. By the way, Jon is glad he did not have to drive to Flower hospital early this morning on bad roads.

Now a fun picture of James.

I was cleaning things up in our front room a few days ago, and found James baseball hat. I set it on his head, and he just left it there for a long time while he watched me sort through things.

Interfaith Nativity

Every year our stake puts together a nativity for the community. They do an amazing job! Last year they had just over 600 people from other faiths visit. This year on the first night they had over 300 people from other faiths visit. We enjoyed it on Friday afternoon. James especially loved the kids (of all ages) room. Here he is palying with a nativity.

This is James playing with a "dres-up" crown.

Our neighbors were there too. James enjoyed seeing Max and Sam. Here is Max and James playing with one of the nativities.