25 posts tagged “james michael”

Today we went to Cracker Barrell for breakfast - so yummy! James ate Kix cereal and "talked" to the men at the next table almost the entire time. He's such a friendly fellow!

We took him to the pool today. He really loved it. He did scare me half to death when twice he ran straight for the pool while we were getting our stuff together. That kid is fast and you really have to keep a hand on him or he's gone!

I got a really cool bag at Target today. I wanted something that I could use as a purse but fit some "diaper bag type" stuff in too without having to carry around both. Plus James and I are going to Columbus next week with Jim for his business trip and I always love to have a nice new bag for the airplane.

 

Well I thought I took a picture of my bag (I know I did) but it's not showing up on my card and I'm too lazy to take another so here's a picture of James. He took my scarve-thing off my head and wanted to wear it. And he loves playing in the laundry basket. He cried when I had to take it to stack laundry in to take upstairs. It really keeps him occupied for quite awhile so I probably should just get another one (or two) at the Dollar Store.

Speaking of a dollar - I thought of Java Janie the other night because Publix had Totino's pizza on sale for $1 and that was what Jim and I had for dinner. Not nutritious but so delicious! That was also the same day that I just HAD to have a Taco Bell soft taco (which further reminds me that I'm pregnant since I don't normally enjoy consuming "Grade D beef for human consuption")

My latest craving....a really good banana split- one with all the trimmings - whipped cream, nuts, three different kinds of ice cream. Ahh..yum! Now I've not fulfilled this craving yet. Maybe while we're in Columbus next week!

We left on Memorial day to head to North Georgia to visit Jim's dad and step mom. They live in Dahlonega and it's quite beautiful up there although there's just no easy way to get there so it was a lot of back roads, but beautiful scenery.

We had a great visit and James had such a good time. He doesn't get to see this set of grandparents very often but he quickly warmed up to them and was his usual friendly self. He even added a new word to his growing vocabulary..."hi". Sounds like an easy one but I've been trying to get him to say it FOREVER! Now he flings it out when we're in the grocery store (after pointing at the strangers that he's speaking too - I guess I'll work on the not pointing thing when he's a little older since it's still cute now).

Of course I left my camera at home so we have no pictures. Speaking of pictures, I must have taken 1000 of James during his first year of life and here we are halfway into his second year and I've only taken a handful. Oh well...when the new baby comes along, I'm sure I'll be camara ready again and it will be cute to get pics of them both.

This month we have seen 3 (yes, I said 3) movies at the theater. This is pretty amazing because I think we only saw 3 movies in the theater in the entire year of 2007. We saw Ironman, Prince Caspian and Indiana Jones 4. I really liked all of them. Ironman totally exceeded my expectations so I was pleasantly surprised. Prince Caspian was just as good, if not better, than Lion, Witch and Wardrobe. Luckily I had realistic expectations of Indiana Jones so I enjoyed it a lot. (You just can't expect another Raiders or Last Crusade so if you watch it with that in mind, you'll enjoy it so much more. Plus Harrison Ford is still amazing - talk about aging well!)

Speaking of movies...we also saw Amazing Grace on DVD. That is one of the best movies I've seen in awhile. The true story of William Wilberforce and his fight to stop the slave trade in the British Empire. So inspiring and really great acting. Romola Garai is in it too (she was in Atonement) and does an incredible job as William's wife.

That's about all the interesting "Steph-news" that I have for now. 

James' aunt got him these sunglasses for Easter. They used to have little bunny ears on them. He is obsessed with wearing them and today he wanted them on constantly. I got some pictures of him running back and forth through the kitchen with them. I was cracking up so hard I had to Skype my parents in Morocco really quick so they could see him too. Unfortunately I think he just broke one of the sides so they won't stay on. I may have to tape them until I can find a new pair as he's very attached!

 

 

 

 

Last week it was really rainy on Friday and as James and I are used to going outside for at least part of the day, I decided that we just could not make it inside all day. So I coerced Jim into taking us to the McDonald's in town that has the indoor play place. It was at lunchtime and pretty busy because apparently all the other moms had the same idea. But there weren't many kids James' age so he got to play all by himself in the little "under 3" area under the big huge plastic tunnel-like thing. In true stay-at-home-mom fashion I figured, "it's rainy, it's just McDonald's in Spring Hill, I'll just throw on a sweat suit and go sans make up." Of course as soon as we get there we see a couple from our church with their kids. Oops! Oh well, we're good friends so it was all good

I wasn't quite ready for James to have the Happy Meal experience (can we say - NO nutritional value whatsoever!) so I actually brought him some food. He's not much for fast food anyways. I did get him to eat a few french fries and he devoured the little cookies that they give to the kids. They were really well equipped with clean high chairs on rollers with detachable trays. And the "under 3" play area was really great for him. All in all - a great trip! However, Mom and Dad did eat the lunch there and I'm leaning towards James growing up with the Chik-fil-A tradition since their food is SOOOO much better!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forgive the bullet points but I have a sick child and I'm so tired that I can hardly see straight.....

• My husband is AMAZING! I woke up Sat. feeling ill and tired. He cleaned the house, did laundry, watched James AND took me to dinner so I didn't have to cook. And did I mention the flowers he bought me earlier in the week?
• James has a double ear infection and I've never seen him so miserable. Sunday night was the worst night in my life as a mother. Holding him until 3am and he was still so miserable. Nothing I could do to make it better...ugh!!!
• My mother-in-law is AWESOME! Calling to check on me, stopping over to rock James to sleep for me...such a blessing! I would be losing my mind right now without her.
• I had something else to say but I forgot....
• Oh yes, I bought a BBQ chicken pizza from Whole Foods and ate part of it for dinner and it was so yummy!
• I found out that when James is crying, if I start laughing, he will stop crying and start laughing with me. It unfortunately doesn't last long.
• I really really really want to get some sleep tonight but I'm almost too tired to sleep - if that makes sense. With kids, they get overtired and it's hard to go sleep and they cry. I'm almost there myself - minus the crying part..although I wouldn't put it past me.
• Hopefully these next few days will FLY by and James will be back to his old self.

Not James...he has made the all important toddler discovery..."I can put a plastic bowl on my head...and it's hilarious!'

 

 

 

 

 

My dear friends Kyle and Kristy were the ones who originally turned me on to the world of blogs. I finally feel like up to speed with my own blog so I've been checking out others by adding them to my Google Reader. I just had a few at first but recently I have found more and more and today I opened my reader to find about 40 posts to read. AHH! It was a bit overwhelming at first but now I'm just kind of wading through them as I please. I subscribe to a lot of "mommy blogs" with good info on parenting, baby products, time and money saving tips and cute stories of other people's children. Several of my friends have blogs as do their friends and family so I've subscribed to those too. There's a couple TV show blogs that I like as well. Google Reader is pretty amazing and it keeps things simple. I'm still struggling with commenting. I enjoy reading and I know that I should comment but sometimes that seems a little too overwhelming. But I know commenting encourages the writer and I know I enjoy comments on my blog so I definitely need to get better about that!

This week has FLOWN by! I can't believe it's Wednesday. It's been a good week though - although I have made NO PROGRESS whatsoever on the paper that is due next week or the assignment that is due this Sunday. This week we're focusing on symbolism. I really hate it. I read these stories that are supposedly so full of these "symbols" and I just don't see them. Are they hiding? Are they really obscure? Who knows? But they are there so I must find them and write about them. Maybe I will have better luck tomorrow since I'll be studying at Panera or Starbucks or some other fun environment.

I have my nephew today. James really enjoys the time with his cousin. They are only 3 months apart and he lives across the street so we have plenty of good times together.

 

 

 

 

Ahh the joys of being an aunt. Isaac is a great little boy. He's very mellow (esp. compared to James) and he's very talkative. He loves to give kisses and he says "hi!" to everyone.

So today is my day to mop my floors. Hopefully both the boys will nap at the same time this afternoon so I can get to that. I'm really enjoying my new mop that I got from Lowe's. It works well and then I just throw it in the washer (well not the pole but the cleaning thingy part)

I made some yummy baby cereal pancakes for the boys this morning. Lots of whole grains, flax seed, prunes, bananas, applesauce and pecans - yummy! I had some for my breakfast too! I'm loving my electric skillet. I hadn't used it in awhile so I pulled it out the other day and have made pork chops, cabbage and now pancakes (though all at different times).

Hmm...I guess that's about all the random thoughts I have for today. Thanks for hanging with me through this meandering post!

My little James did the sweetest thing tonight on the way home from grandma's house. My husband was telling him to say "Mama". James is almost 14 months old and is very stuck on the "goo, goo" "ee-ee", "da-dee" and "dig-dig" sounds. I've never really heard anything close to "mama" So Jim said "ma - ma" really slow and as we were about to move on and start talking we hear from the back seat "Ma.....ma!" I sooo wish that I had been able to record it!! Tears immediately rushed to my eyes and I just absolutely melted! He said it a few more times for good measure and then we were home. He even said it a little later as I was getting him ready for bed.

Oh wow - I've so enjoyed being a parent and hearing things like this just makes any of the rough times seem so incredibly worth it all.

So of course tomorrow I fully hope to hear more of this from him and you know I'll be sitting around saying "mama" all day just to encourage him!

 

 

OK so this morning didn't start quite the way I had hoped...

I usually get up between 5:30am and 6am so that I can have some time to myself before James gets up at 7am. Last night Jim was up late and then got a call from work at 2am that there was some critical computer problem. So he worked on that until almost 4am. I woke up at 3:45am and alarmed that he wasn't in bed, went searching the house in a tired stupor. He found me searching for him, explained about work and we went to bed. And when I say "we", I mean him because I was not able to go back to sleep. I was awake until about 5am. So when my alarm went off at 5:30am, I turned it off - not on snooze but off. So then I bolt awake at 7am, jump out of bed and go get the baby.

Now today has just gotten complicated. It's the first day of the brand new mom's group that I'm in and they meet at 10:30am in Green Hills (45 minutes from my house) At 10am the insurance adjuster is coming to close out my medical claim on a car accident we had back in October so the medical bills can be paid and the collections agents will stop hounding us.

I have to write (more like adapt) some two year old curriculum for our children's church this Sunday and it has to go out THIS AM so I'm frantically writing while James is occupying himself (which doesn't last terribly long) and I do finally get it emailed...whew!

James is not cooperating with his nap - maybe because the cat bit him again (and when I say "again", I mean for the THIRD TIME in a week! I am so livid and so through with this BEAST but Jim is still attached to him so I don't think I can boot him out just yet. Hmm...Jim's going out of town next week..maybe the cat will get "lost"? Ok, really I don't think I could do that but I'm telling you if he bites my kid again, I will inflict some serious bodily harm. I hauled off and hit him really hard today but I know I could do worse)

James was screaming in his crib so I go get him to calm him down. I decide to rock him for a moment but I trip over the ottomon while I'm carrying him to the rocker in his room. Thankfully I do not drop him and at that point I just dissolved into laughter which actually caused James to stop crying and start laughing at me. I'll have to remember this!

So here I am in a messy kitchen (I'm bringing a veggie tray today and am still cutting the veggies) in my pj's, with the insurance man on the way, a sleeping husband and (thankfully, now) a sleeping baby.

Can I get myself ready, get Jim up, get James' packed for a day away, meet with insurance man, finish veggie tray and get out the door in time to make it to a 10:30am mom's group that is 45 minutes away? hmm...I don't think so but I'm going to give it a try! Time now....9:05am CST - here I go!

So I have started this huge CD categorizing project, trying to get rid of our jewel cases and get the CD's in little jackets and into one nice box that I found at Staples. It's great except that it's taking forever because I'm labeling each jacket with my label maker. I just work on it every now and then when I sit down to watch TV or something....

So while doing the above mentioned job, I found this CD called "Scripture Rock". Apparently about 10 years ago, my husband played guitar and did some production work for this CD. It's a CD of kids singing Bible verses. I decided to try it out on James and my nephew Isaac. I put the CD in and got immediate "dancing" (which for Isaac means bobbing his head up and down and for James means running in place)

They're actually pretty catchy tunes and it's a great way for kids to memorize scripture. I know that I grew up on Psalty the Songbook and I still remember some tunes from that (oh wow - like over 20 years ago!!).

Amazingly this CD is available on Amazon. I think it's pretty cool that Jim's name is on the inside cover since he was of the guitarists. This will be a nice little memento for James when he gets older.

PS - Beware that the songs are catchy and WILL get into your head. I woke up last night singing one.....