James quarterly report- 1 year 9 months.

Oh Jamers. It is already almost time for your 2nd birthday. Time has just flown!

James is a CRAZY climber. I find him on everything he can perch his little chubby feet on.

The big event of this quarter was that James got his ear tubes! When I wrote the last update he had only had one ear infection. Since then he had a basically constant ear infection until we got another referral for ear tubes. Brandon brought him this time, and he bounced back so quickly. He cried for mom afterward, and threw up on the way home, and then immediately ran into the backyard to play.

He has been learning so many new words since his tubes. I was worried about his speech for a while but it is just connecting in his little mind. Being able to hear properly is a huge perk.

James loves Cora! He follows her everywhere. Now that Cora acts like a cat in the house, James acts like a cat in the house. If she runs screaming, he runs screaming. If she gets a treat, he gets a treat. etc etc etc.

He is learning to be a toddler. His new word is "Naaaan!" which means "Miiiine!" Cora was never a super possessive toddler like that, so it's interesting to watch sibling rivalry play out for the first time. I try to not interfere too much, but if I don't do anything James totally beats up on Cora.

James loves cheese, cookies, and bananas. He loves Elmo "Bmbm", but his favorite character is Cookie Monster "Teetee", or Mickey Mouse "Ninnieeee". If he finds a stuffed animal that he loves, he will hug it like a baby.

James is obsessed with babies. He says "Hiiiii!!!!!!!!" to any baby he sees. Usually too enthusiastically.

Just a few more months until the big birthday! 

We are homeowners!

Well, we started off the new year by MOVING INTO OUR FIRST HOME!

We have been looking at houses basically since we moved here. We knew we would be here longer than we wanted to rent, so we were looking for our price range and in the same part of town. The northwest part of Visalia is a safe and good place to live. There are other good spots, but we knew we wanted to stay up here. The problem is that our ward boundaries only took a tiny part of the northwest corner, so I really really REALLY looked into the houses in that tiny part.

We hooked up with a realtor I know, and after getting pre-approved by her lender we just wanted to go check out some houses. We came to this one house and it had everything we wanted- 4 bedrooms (so the kids don't have to share right away), cul de sac, in a good area, big covered patio. Then she showed us the outside. The backyard is HUGE (for California). I haven't seen a yard that big here. I really didn't want to like this house though, because it was in a different ward! But our realtor said we would need to move fast if we wanted it because it would go fast. So we decided just to make an offer, and they accepted it right away. So we were set to close New Year's Eve! What a great way to end the year!

 Right after we got the keys. Look at how Cora and I smile the same, and Brandon and James smile the same.

 Their daughter had a purple bedroom, so we knew where Cora would be! I hung these up on the nails they left... I still need to rearrange them.

 New Year's Day Brandon had the day off, and Steve and Karen were in town... so I decided to run a 5k. It was my way to get out of the house before the craziness of moving started. And I did it in 42 flat- not too bad for my second 5k after hurting myself!

 Before we got the UHaul we just loaded up the cars and brought them back and forth. James was a good helper.

 Cora was also a good helper at the furniture store.

 This backyard has been amazing. We have big plans for it (in the next few years of course), and just to have a place where the kids can go outside and PLAY without having to pack everything up is huge. It's pretty well shaded, which will be so nice in the summer when it's triple digits. No plans for a pool (people tease me about that ALL THE TIME), but we are going to get a trampoline and some garden boxes!

And in typical boy fashion, James's favorite spot is the dirty mud pit. He learned "dirty" from sitting in it so many times!

Moving into this house would not have been possible without so many people blessing us along the way. I feel like there has been a lot of coaching from the other side of the veil to help everything fall into place. Thanks, all 3 grandpas over there! We hope that someday we can bless people just as much as we have been blessed.

When the house is more set up I will share more pictures!

James Quarterly Report- 1 year 6 months.

James is 18 months old!! HOW is this possible?! Now that he is nursery age (and goes without ANY issues), I find that I have a much better attitude about church. I only have to wrestle with him for an hour instead of 3. (Well 2 with the church block change.) Birds are singing, the sky is blue, and everyone just seems friendlier when I am not frazzled and on the verge of tears. And I will never take for granted the fact that he is so happy for me to leave him anywhere.

He loves to be my shopping buddy. Going grocery shopping with just one kid again is a dream!

 He has two speeds- ENERGIZER BUNNY THAT NEVER STOPS; and sack of potatoes slung over my shoulder. Sometimes he crashes on the way home from preschool and not even getting him out of the carseat is enough to wake him up.

 James climbs on EVERYTHING he can. If he can plant his feet on it, he will climb and perch on it like the world's cutest Gollum impersonator.

 He is OBSESSED with our new back yard! Unfortunately, his favorite part is the mud puddle in the drainage area. He has needed many a pant change from that spot.

 He LOVES animals. And he has surprising moments of tenderness, like when he went to his friend Ruben's grandma and snuggled with her at a Christmas party.

 He is starting to act like a little human! He has jokes and makes silly noises and makes us laugh.

 As I said, he loves any animal. He got this snake from Joshua Tree, and likes to carry it around.

 He loves to wear Cora's Elmo sweatshirt and any socks he finds!

He has his little posse of boys that he plays with! Or, plays near is more like it. But he's starting to recognize them and likes them! 

 He is starting to love books! Which I LOVE. I get nervous sometimes that I don't read enough with him, because he is SO busy that he won't let me read more than 5 words a page. But now he will just come climb into my lap and throw a book at me. (Sometimes it hurts.)

He has an excellent Murphy frown pout. This was after I yelled "NO!" When he pulled a cutting board with a knife on it on himself. He definitely melts my heart when he does that. 

He is such a cute little boy and I am loving his little words.

He says "Dine" for dinosaurs, and "din" for a drink. Elmo is "Bmbm", and Grandpa/Papa is "Bapa". Bethany is "Bubba". He DID say "Di-No-Tor" the other day. I SWEAR. It was so cute!

James is already a year and a half. It is insane! 

On his first and Cora's LAST day of nursery! (SO SAD!)

First Disneyland trip with the kids!

For Karen's birthday this year, we went to Disneyland. We have not wanted to spend all that money on Disneyland just yet, until we knew Cora and James could survive the trip. Cora is SO OBSESSED with Disney princesses right now so I knew she would love it. And having extra adults to help with the kids was a big perk!

The night before I got this hilarious series of pictures of Charlotte trying to tear open a pack of pepper, why did she want to do that?? It was SO FUNNY.

 The first day we went to California Adventure. Cora didn't know but the ONE thing I knew we had to do was go meet Ana and Elsa. She didn't know, but she wore her Elsa dress which was PERFECT.

 Watching Cora meet Ana and Elsa was the most magical thing I have ever seen. She is a die hard Frozen fan, and to meet these princesses in real life was AMAZING. And that made the whole trip worth it.

 Also, the princesses were amazing. They all fawned over Cora, talking about her dress and her glittery boots. It really made Cora feel like a little princess. It also helps that Cora's hair matches Ana's.

 We also got to meet "Mrs. Inquibidle". Cora had been into the Incredibles for a little bit, so this was fun too.

 When we did the Ferris Wheel, I convinced Brandon that we needed to go on the cars that move on a track. It was SO FUNNY. James had to sit with Grandpa since he didn't want anyone else, and watching his face light up with excitement vs Brandon and Steve looking more and more sick was hilarious.

 Poor James couldn't hang very long. By lunchtime he fell asleep in the front pack carrier, which is so unlike him.

 Cora wanted to meet Princess Elena, even though she has seen her show about 3 times. She just loved the beautiful girl in the pretty dress.

 Brandon and Steve took the kids home to nap, and we went on Grizzly River Rapids. Which, LET ME TELL YOU, is a lot of fun when it's hot. When it is getting chilly outside, however, it is FREEZING.

 Cora got to see Donald Duck, who she also loves. (Are you noticing a theme of characters and love?) 

 Look at this little love bug bear. So cutie!

We thought James would love to see the "train" (car)... he wasn't as interested as I thought he would be! Probably because we had been going for 14 hours at this point.

Brandon and I utilized our FastPasses to go on Guardians of the Galaxy. I have been bitter about the fact that they changed it from Tower of Terror to Guardians of the Galaxy, but it was an excellent ride!

 On Saturday, we went to Disneyland. I haven't been back in probably 10 years or so (I went to California Adventure I think in 2010, but STILL), and it was so fun to see the same entryway. And right when we went inside we saw Aurora!

 As soon as I got the picture with Cora I turned around and saw James and Brandon standing in the line. And James was SMITTEN. He had his thumb in his mouth but was smiling all around it. That was the most excited I saw him about meeting anyone! She was very sweet about it. She didn't act like it was weird at all (which I thought it kind of was, but James was in LOVE.)

 Now comes the worst parenting moment of the year (possibly). Cora is 40 inches tall, so I thought it would be fun to bring her on a "big kid" ride. I showed her Splash Mountain, and she said it looked fun. WELL. So I remembered that they said the biggest people go in the back, so I assumed that meant the smallest person goes in the front. The employee didn't correct us, so I thought we were good! Cora liked the first few drops, even when we got wet. She thought it was hilarious. But the problems started when we hit a drop in the middle of the pitch dark inside of the ride. She started crying because she was scared and kept saying "No more drops mom! No more drops!" I kept telling her "Don't worry, just one more drop..." She didn't even know what was going to hit her. She only cried a little bit after the big drop, but based on the way she was gripping my hands I knew the picture would be a classic. And BOY WAS IT.

 When I saw this I laughed so hard and so loud I think I startled the other people. I got funny looks at any rate. It is already framed and sitting in our kitchen. Poor Cora! But she stopped crying pretty quickly, and once we got her into a change of dry clothes she was fine.

Brandon had heard about the exclusive Club 33, so we went looking for the door. Kind of cool.

 We were walking through Fantasyland, and Luis said he saw Belle walking by. So Cora and I went RUNNING  through Fantasyland to find her. Worth. It.

  

 I have never watched the shows before, besides the Frozen show in California Adventure (when it was the Aladdin show). It was nice to watch a few shows and give us a break. But the kids loved it! James was SO TIRED.

 We also sat and watched the Disneyland parade, which was a hit. Beforehand Cora got to see Cruella De Vil. She called Cora "dreadful, just dreadful".

The parade was so cute! So many princesses came by, and everyone is so talented. How does Disney get so many talented people involved in EVERYTHING?? Even the sweepers were amazing!

  Charlotte finally got to give James a taste of his own medicine and climbed all over him. James was too tired to even care.

 The people sitting next to us caught this moment. Cora is wearing her Ana nightgown, and Ana saw Cora and pointed to her matching dress. Then Elsa blew her a kiss, and Cora just about passed out from excitement. THIS is the magic of a 3 year old at Disneyland!

We may have not gotten the typical "picture in front of the castle", but look at the castle! And look at that smoke! The LA fire had just broken out.

 Every time James got to sit by himself in the seats he was SO proud.

 Cora fell asleep in the stroller at 5:30. She did not wake up for dinner, or bedtime, or transferring from the stroller to the shuttle and back again, or anything until 6 AM. I was pretty sure we had broken our kid.

 And the next night, same thing! She fell asleep at the table at 6:00, then didn't wake up until 6 AM.

 James was SO in love with Grandpa the whole trip (even called him "Bmpa", which is a big deal since he never uses words), but Sunday night he sat with Meg and let her show him things on her phone. Big step in their relationship!

 And in typical James fashion, he cut his head open on the corner of a stone counter right as we were heading to the car on Monday morning. Greeeeat.

Our final consensus was that it was an amazing trip. But Disneyland is very expensive and very tiring for everyone, especially the kids (but we all need to take time to recover), so it will be a while before we go again! But SO FUN.