Traveling just under Two

The one thing that I NEVER anticipated saying on an airplane was this.  "James please don't lick the windows."  You can't prepare for everything.

This is James after I asked him not to lick the window.  I know super dark.  It was the best my cell phone could do.

He was really excited about being on a real airplane.  I think its the first time he realized that he was on one.

Since James isn't two yet we don't have to pay for a seat for him when we fly.  We are cheap so although he really should have his own seat with restraints he had two flights where he was required to sit on my lap.  Those were the MOST painful flights of my life.  He HAD to sit on my lap.  Honestly I have more padding in all areas compared to Rocky so I don't blame him, but a little break would have been nice.  Most of the time we were fighting over who got the seat.  When it came to Mom Vs. James I won - but only because I have the bigger bum.

The absolute killer was when we spent most of the day flying and James didn't sleep at all.  The second we get off the plane and he is in his car seat being wheeled around he falls asleep.   Funny kid.

Mexico!

Rocky had his last residency interview in Utah so in honor of many interviews and because we always are looking for a way to celebrate and get in a last hurrah.....

Rocky and I spoiled ourselves and went on an awesome trip to Mexico.

My parents spoiled us by watching James for us - FOR A WEEK.  I think they are still recovering.

Rocky and I had a long layover in Mexico City so we decided to try out the Historical district.  When Rocky tries something out he really likes to go all out so this meant that we rented a car.  This way we  he can have the real experience.  I don't need that kind of REAL experience.  Here are some photos

I think there are 6 lames of traffic here....maybe more, you kind of just make your own lane - if your car fits then its legal.  At least that is my observation.

This is how I translated this sign.  

Senior Bathrooms

Welcome

For Exclusive Clients

WOW! The seniors have EXCLUSIVE bathrooms?

I had 5 years of Spanish and my husband and sister speak Spanish so I'm pretty sure I'm right.

Alternative transportation

The Grand Square - Okay really I don't remember the name and I should.  But since we Rocky had to really experience everything he brought us here because he heard there was a protest going on.  Luckily it started raining so the protest fizzled.  

We walked in the rain, bought an umbrella for way too many pesos, ate an an authentic Mexican restaurant and got lost on the way back to the airport.  

Our next stop was Playa Del Carmen - by Cancun.  

It was wonderful and mostly relaxing.  

This is right outside our room.  It was so nice.  Although we did have an incident early in the morning.  I spend a few hours in bed wondering if a lizard was in there with me.  

This is us getting stuck in a tourist photo trap.  

Here are some of the Tulum Ruins

This is where I wanted to be all day long.

These little and big guys were ALL over.

This is the leather lady.  It seemed like she was always around so it isn't surprising she snuck in the picture and my camera decided to focus on her.  

This is Rocky on Speedo rock.  Our first day here we went to the beach to walk around.  We saw a lone man laying on this rock in his speedo - Thus the name.  

We also spent a day at the Xcaret park.  We forgot our camera, but we fed huge birds, Rocky snorkeled  while I kept the Iguanas from stealing our stuff, we napped in a hammock by the beach, and we watch a big show on the history of Mexico.  We started out the day wanting to go back to the resort but ended up really enjoying ourselves.  

We ate lots of SUPER yummy food.  In fact I think I had the best dessert I have EVER EVER had.  I really couldn't stop saying YUM.  It was raspberry ice cream, surrounded by cake, surrounded by hand flamed meringue.  It really spoke to my taste buds.  

Loved Mexico!

23 Months

Yes, our blog has turned into only James updates.  That is what happens when your almost 2 year old keeps you so busy that you are too exhausted to blog.  We are lucky to get any update on here at all.

James is just hard.  I'm his mom so I'm pretty sure it is okay to say that.
He can be so Sweet one minute and he can throw a Sweet (out of control) tantrum the next.
From what I've heard the two's are terrible.  From what I've seen so far - I've heard right.

I think the problem is that both James and I think we are right.  Both James and I have grand plans for the day - they rarely match up.  Reasoning with a two year old is pretty much worthless.  They don't reason.

Is it wrong that I can't wait for 7:00pm each night?  It's James bed time.  I think I remember a time when I would miss him while he napped.  Now I just pray for a longer nap.

Well our little man is almost to two.

"Two" or "Too" are two of his favorite words to say.

He loves to sweep, so much that I wasn't able to do it unless he wasn't around....so we got him his own broom.  He still wants the big broom and gives us the small one.  At least the small one works.

He still has his binky - "bunny" but sadly when he hits two officially we will be saying goodbye.  I fear that we will all miss Bunny.

He loves ALL of his toys and never wants to share.  He especially loves the toy that someone else has picked up.

He loves to play "hiding."  It is played most of the day.

He loves ice cream

He loves to wrestle

He is back to two naps.  I think this might be because I want him to have two - he sleeps during both so we are sticking to two.

All in all I love being his mom.  I just have to remind myself that "I can do hard things."

22 months

James is so funny.  If both Rocky and I are around he wants us to all do whatever we are doing together.  If one of us is changing his diaper is innocently asks the other "come?"  Because the family that changes diapers together stays together.  If he is drinking water he likes us all to be drinking water.  It is very sweet that he is concerned that we all participate in everything together.

He loves his stories, He is very good at finding things in the pictures, and some books we have read enough that he knows some of the words.

He RUNS to nursery now.

He loves Angel food cake (so do I)  so we have been having it frequently.  He had some in a bowl and I kept trying to get him to share with me.  He kept saying no.  Finally I said, "but mom doesn't have anything to eat."  He looked at me, pointed at the counter and said "soup?"  That is what I had for lunch.  Smartie pants.

He is now forward facing in his car seat.  He loves to point out the trucks and the tunnels (overpasses).

He hates to have anything between his toes...."dir dirs momma."  We clean those things out multiple times a day.

He is getting harder - definitely getting a stronger opinion about everything.  But we just love him to pieces.

Mushy Mommy Moment

Today was a crazy hard James day.  I won't go into too many details but he is definitely getting into those terrible (I'm not going to listen to you and I'm not going to be happy unless I decide that it is time to be happy, nothing you do can make me happy) twos stage.

I laid him down for a nap and listened to him talk. cry, talk, cry, quite, then more talking and crying for an hour before he fell asleep.  I was so close to caving in and getting him but I knew how tired he was.  He only slept for about 50 minutes but these days we are taking what we can get.

This evening was another of many of todays battles and James won with the final blow of throwing lasagna all over the floor.

Luckily I won the war by deciding that 6:30 was a good bed time.  And it was.  We read scriptures without any issue (most of the time there we hear lots of "no's" and have tears.  The Old Testament must be more interesting to a 22 month old.  We are very thankful at this point that animals made a quick appearance in the creation.

Lately James just asks to go to bed without a song.  We start singing and he interrups by saying "bed" and pointing.  Yeah Yeah, we know, singing lessons would probably do us some good.  Anyway tonight wasn't any different.  I asked James if he wanted a song and he said "no", "want bed."  I started singing just to make sure and he LOUDLY said "BED."

I put him in bed, tucked him in and said my nightly "Sleep good baby, I love you." And He said to me.
"Wuv you mommy."  My Heart melted instantly.  I wanted to pick him up and give him the biggest hug ever and then I wanted to take him to play games and dance and buy him anything he wanted.  Hard day?  What hard day?  Today was the best day.

I'm so grateful for those three magic words.  

Happy Anniversary

Today Rocky and I are celebrating our 6th anniversary.  It is funny how 6 years doesn't seem that long but at the same time it seems that we have been together forever.  I Love It!

I'm so grateful to have found Mr. (W)Right. 

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.  Rocky's dad came to spend Christmas with us and it was AWESOME!

Watching James look at this Christmas present was so funny.  He was stunned.  Thanks Grandma W.

We got him a Curious George Ornament.  He LOVED it.  I probably could have just given him this.  We found out quickly that ornaments aren't really meant to be played with.  It broke within a half hour.  

This is how James opened most of his presents.  In his car.

James took this picture of Grandpa.  Very Impressive.

James is instructing Grandpa on how to use his generic nerf gun.  

My sweet little man.

Love these two.  

Grandpa playing Mini Corn hole with Rocky.  Very intense game.

Mini Corn Hole

James and Grandpa.

I want to say a special thanks to everyone who sent us a Christmas card this year.  We love them and someday we will surprise you with our own.

21 Months

Despite all our not so hard efforts to keep James a baby he is just growing up.

-He loves going to class now (nursery).  Usually after the opening prayer in Church he will say "class?"
-He loves his friends and will ask for them when he wakes up, and if they aren't at our house it makes him cry.
-He loves having ALL his blankets with him.  If one is good 4 is better.
-He loves to jump in his bed - ALL THE TIME.  Anytime we are in his room he asks to jump.
-He doesn't like his hands dirty.  If there is anything on them he will say "dir dirs" until we clean them off.
-He has become a horrible shopper.  I am so sad about this.  It is easier to just stay home then to fight the shopping battle.
-He wakes up around 7:30 or 8:00 regardless of when we put him to bed.
-He loves to throw things away
-He loves to tease and LOVES to pretend to hide.
-He is starting to eat a little better, but still doesn't do well with veggies.  I really need to get more creative in this area.  One thing that he is loving right now is pepperjack cheese.  I think he just loves flavor.

Love this little man.

Sometimes

Sometimes you want a haircut

Sometimes you need a haircut

Sometimes other people tell you it's time for a haircut

and

Sometimes you light you hair on fire and you HAVE to get a haircut



Yesterday while cleaning up the food that James had thrown on the floor I stood up and leaned over the counter to throw the food in the sink.  I had forgotten that I had lit a candle.  I remembered when all the sudden I felt some hot heat by my face and saw my hair go up in flames.

I feel that I am really really blessed - first of all I still have hair
Second - Nothing but my hair burned.  It could have been so much worse.
Third- I was able to get into get my hair cut same day as the incident
Fourth - I thought I would leave with a short hair cut, nope, still have the length, just more layers (which lets be honest - my hair needed a boost anyway)
Fifth - James didn't see it.  I think that would have been traumatizing to see your mom on fire.
Sixth - The smell was terrible but it had cleared out for the most part when my Visiting Teachers came a half hour later.
Seventh - Still so so so grateful that I have hair and nothing else burned.

I'll post pictures later.


I threw the candle away.

20 Months

Has it really been a month since my last post?  I am getting so far behind.  Well James is 20 months going on 20 years.

He is getting very independent.
He loves watching shows and if it were his way he would watch shows all day long.
His favorites are Mon-tr (Monsters inc.), memo (Nemo), cars, Curous (Curious George), and of course Panny (Kung fu Panda)
He runs and runs and runs some more.
He is starting to sing songs.....or at least the last word to the song. (Wheels on the Bus is a favorite thanks to nursery - he even does the actions)
If he wants he will keep his arms folded through a prayer and say "amen" at the end.  Notice that I said....if he wants.
He loves to wrestle with his dad.
He is still a pretty picky eater.
He loves to drink water.  (we go through way toooo many diapers a day)
He does pretty well following directions when HE wants to.
He loves to dump...so if something is dumpable he WILL dump it.
He loves to point out things in the sky like, planes, the moon, stars and birds.
He rarely holds still for a picture.
He is starting to get a little sense of humor...it's so cute.
He is growing growing growing.  

Tunnel

We have a train book that has a very small picture of a tunnel.  It is James favorite part of the book.  So now he loves to talk about tunnels.  Rocky and I thought it would be fun to make him a little tunnel to play in.  Results.....

Loved IT!

Howdy Halloween

This Halloween was especially fun for me this year.  I felt like I had the perfect little costume for James and had the best time putting it together and making finishing touches.  James was our little cowboy.  Oops.  I mean SHERIFF.

Sadly I put my Halloween efforts into James costume and so Rocky and I had no costume.  We were party poopers.  Actually I did dress up for one little party as his deputy.  But that is all I did.  :(  Boo hoo.

We took James to Boo at the Zoo in preparation for the big Halloween night.  This way he would know what do with his candy bag and how to be sooooo cute that people would give him more candy.  He perfected it.  After his first stop at the zoo him sat down emptied out his bag and held his two pieces of candy in his hand.  He was so happy.

We took him out trick or treating Halloween night.  He rode in the wagon around our neighborhood.  We would pull him out so he was able to walk to the door.  Then he would walk back to the wagon and want a ride.  It was a little cold and the wagon had blankets so I don't blame him.  If people held out the bowl for him to take a treat he would take a handful, not just one and if the bowl had suckers that was the first thing he went for.  In fact after getting his first sucker of the night he promptly pulled it out and put it in his mouth.  He didn't want to take it out until later when someone was passing out BIGGER suckers.  Oh man.

When we got home he dumped his bag and was so so so happy.

Singing the "I've got candy song."

Yelling at the animals.  You know, just a regular job for the Sheriff at the zoo.

First Trick or Treat of the night.

The sucker

Dump

Checking out the candy.

We all had a great time.  This year I finally got smart and didn't buy any candy to pass out.  Nobody comes to out house and I am usually left to eat the candy.  This year I'm eating James candy....I think he forgot about it.

19 months

Pany? Pany?  

This is what we hear most days, multiple times.  James LUVS Kung Fu Panda.  We probably aren't good parents for letting him watch it but he loves it so and so we give in.  

He laughs at parts he thinks are funny, and has even quoted a few parts....and when I say quoted it goes something like this.  He yells and then a few minutes later Po( the panda) will yell.  So funny.

James is so loving and wants to hold all things smaller than he.  Babies are a must.  He loves to give them hugs and kisses.  

He has been to three weeks of nursery.  The crying went as follows - 

week 1:  cried for 40 minutes

week 2:  cried for 15 minutes

week 3:  looked and sounded like it was going to be a long one....it lasted 20 seconds.  WOOHOO.

He loves to run.  He really loves to run up and down our driveway - and usually likes us to run with him. Anytime he gets out of the car he asks to run.  He is awesome at stopping when we tell him too.  I'm so grateful for that.  

He is eating a little better but not much.  He likes grapes - he calls them beri-beri.  

He signs and says:  eat, more and dog.

He loves to throw things in the garbage...and the toilet.  (to him they are the same) He is really speedy when it comes to throwing things in the toilet.

He is usually pretty sad when he wakes up (I bet there are a few of you that can relate).  He usually isn't sad when it's time to nap or go to bed.  This guy loves his sleep - and needs his sleep.

He calls all white haired men "boppy" which is what Grandpa S. goes by, Grandpa S has white hair.  In fact almost all grandpas in the family have white/gray/almost gray hair.

He is growing up tooo fast.  

Photos from the cell

I'm wrapping up my Utah posts...I think.

I finally uploaded the photos from my cell phone.

With all the traveling from Springville to Salt Lake I was bound to forget something.  The weekend Cyndi  (a.k.a. Rocky's mom, my mom-in-law, James G-ma) it happened to be my camera.  I was so bummed.

So I had to use the go to camera...on the cell phone.  Better then nothing right?

We went to the Discovery children's museum.  The boys loved it.  The adults loved watching the boys love it.  It was a little busy for our liking but we got in for free so we really couldn't complain.

This totally looks like James is pushing Gage....and he probably is.

Sitting in a helicopter.  James was very serious about this....and LOVED it.  He was so sad when it was time to get out.