Back in Ohio

James and I just got home. I will be posting more about our trip on the coming days. Right now I have tons of laundry and dishes to do.

Grand Adventure!

We just left for a grand adventure. Sadly, Jon will not be able to come with James and I, but our friend, Jenni Toller, was kind enough to come along. You see, we recently bought a car, but it is currently in Utah at Jon's parents' home. James, Jenni and I are flying out there this morning and drive the new car back.


While we are there, we are going to stay for awhile to visit all of our family. I am excited to see family again and Idaho, too. It has been almost two years since I have been out West. Since I will be gone, there may not be too many posts for a while.

Conference Weekend

I realized today that I had not taken any pictures in a while for those grandmas many miles away, so I took this picture right away. James is sleeping. He is still sleeping through the night, and it is wonderful!!!

Conference was really good today. Sadly, Jon had to go to campus for some mandatory training, but only missed the first session. It was nice to watch it on the Internet, so I could pause it when James needed some attention. I did not have to miss anything!

Car Stuff and Other Things

Yesterday, I was invited to join Jon for lunch on campus. It was a Middle Eastern Feast, and was quite tasty. Then we listened to a presentation abut the architecture of the Taj Mahal. It was really interesting. Justin Sacks held James through most of it. Thanks Justin! James started to fuss so I took him to the back of the room and Jon fed him a bottle, while we listened to the rest of the presentation.

But a really exciting (not in a good way) thing happened before lunch. Jon came and picked James and me up after his morning lectures. We got to the school and found a really close parking spot. When I was getting the diaper bag out of the car, I could smell anti-freeze really strong, and I hoped it was not our car. Then Jon noticed steam coming from under the hood, and I saw a puddle forming under our car. I went and looked at the front of the car and there was water/anti-freeze pouring on to the ground. Oh great!

So after Jon ate, he went out and looked to see if a hose had blew or something worse, but the only thing he could figure was that it had come from around the cap on the reservoir. He tried calling his dad, but there was no answer. Finally, he was able to talk to his dad, and they decided that all that was needed was a new radiator cap. Off to Walmart, and $5 later, the problem seems to be fixed. Random? Probably. Good thing we have a new car.

The fun continues. I went to workout with a friend of mine in the ward. It was a horrible time to drive. The sun was in the worst spot, making it impossible to see. I turned down the wrong road, so I took a back road to get be back on track. Half way down that road, I noticed a police car behind me. My first thought, "Am I speeding?" I did not know what the speed limit was. Then I wondered if his lights were on? I could not tell because the way the sun was hitting them. I just prayed that I was not getting pulled over. He followed me until I pulled off of the next major road into m friend's housing addition. Of course when I put my left signal on to turn it did not work, no matter how much I wiggled it (the normally works). After I turned, I saw the police car drive keep going, but driving slowly and watching me. I was afraid when I was done working out he would be waiting for me outside the house, but the drive home I only saw one police car and it was going the other direction. Lesson learned: Do not drive when the sun, as it is setting, is in the horrible, blinding spot .

Play Time

James has gotten really good at grabbing his giraffe off of the tray in front of him and getting him to his mouth. He also is mastering grabbing the rings seen in this picture and getting them in his mouth. When he is done playing and wants to be picked up, he does a fake cough that is really quite funny.

My "Big" Boy

Here are a few pictures of James in his quest to be bigger then he is. James sitting by himself in the rocking chair. He loves to do this while I am getting his bottle ready. You might notice March Madness on the TV in the background. He is "waving" in this one. The next three are him sitting next to dad watching Star Trek, but really he was watching mom fold laundry, smiling and talking, while he shewed on his fingers. Check out those thighs! He is a very happy boy, even after his shots.

4 Months

James is now 4 months. I cannot believe it. Where has the time gone? James has growing so much! He is now 16 pounds, 1 ounce and 26 inches long. He did really well with his shots again. He cried a little more, but was done before we left the doctor's office. He was a little cranky before I put him to bed, but he has not cried any more. I hope he is not too cranky tomorrow.

James is getting to the point where I can tell he just wants to be big. He watches Jon and I eat and has a look on his face like he really wants to eat that way too. He loves to sit or stand. He will sit in his high chair and play while we are eating dinner. He also loves to sit on the couch or on your lap and watch TV with us. He loves "Cars" and cars. That is one way to calm him when he is fussy. Show him cars. We really need to get our own copy of "Cars." He also still love to lay on his back if you are changing his diaper or his clothes.

He is sleeping through the night (8-10 hours most nights) and has been for about a month! It has been so wonderful! He is almost rolling over. He is really good at scooting across the floor while he is on his back. He is also getting good at grabbing things and putting them in his mouth, which is why he no longer can sit on Mommy's lap while we eat dinner.

Here are two pictures of James in his high chair. I tried to just pick one but I could not decide between these two. This first one he is stabilizing himself against the wall. It was really cute. This one shows how he gets when he is really excited and wants to grab something. His arms go out to the side and he cannot grab it because he is too excited.

It is Someone's Birthday!

Happy Birthday, JON!!!

Running

Yesterday, James and I were gone from about 9:00 a.m. until around 2:00 p.m. We went Visiting Teaching and then to play group. It felt like I have been gone for several weeks, but I have just not been to my own ward for several weeks, and I had not seen most of the people I saw yesterday for just as long.

Other then that bit of running around. James and I have just been home, mostly, James swinging and me on the computer. Here is a picture of James holding on to "Kai," the giraffe with one hand and pulling a blanket to his mouth with the other while he is sleeping in his swing.

New Dollar?

I got this from my mom and it made me laugh. Just a little something to represent our economy currently.

Pictures from Bowling Green

Sarah Jane Pratt just sent me these pictures from our adventures in Bowling Green on Sunday. Thanks Sarah!

This is Kaitlyn pretending she knows how to jump a car. Sarah Jane Pratt, Aubree Banton, Kaitlyn Dewey, and Abby Tucker. Kaitlyn and Eli Tucker. James can be found like this most of the time. His fingers in his mouth.

Bowling Green, Ohio

Sunday, we went to the Bowling Green Ward Conference. President Smith's talk was different then it has been. It was good, but it was interesting that it was noticeably different from the others. I am sad I missed most of it, because James was tired, but would not fall asleep unless I was walking the halls. Young Women's was good. It was shorter than normal, and James threw up all over himself and me, so I missed a lot of it, but what I got to hear was good.

Afterwards, we had a Youth Conference Planning Meeting. I thought it went really well. I am really excited for Youth Conference this year. The youth have a lot of great ideas and it should be awesome.

We almost did not get to come home. The daughter of our ride fell asleep listening to the radio in the car and killed the battery. Luckily, we were able to jump it. It was a long day and I was glad to be home.

NCAA Basketball

James still likes watching basketball, and he like watching TV, so we have been enjoying watching March Madness as a family. Here is James sitting on the couch with dad watching basketball after a very long day.

Bath Time, Again

James still loves bath time. I am trying to teach him to splash. He loves it when I make his arms splash the water, but on his own, he just lets his arms sit in the water.