Always and Forever

Spring has Sprung

The weather has been crazy. One day it is beautiful out, the next it's snowing and than raining. Everyday is a surprise and we are just hoping it stays nice and sunny out. James loves the outdoors. He can be fussy for a while, than as soon as I take him outside he is happy. Our neighbor, Brother Cox (aka Jean) is the greatest, he is always helping us out and is like family. James got a chance to go for a swing in his back yard, he really liked it. He is still a little to small to handle it all by himself, so I had to help him out a little too. We love to hang out outside. In young womens these two get to hang out with eachother. Carter man is such a good little guy, Casey and I get to take them to all Young Women classes and activities- lucky guys. All I gotta say, is they are constantly being held by all the beautiful Mia Maids.

Ice Skating

James came along with mommy and her 3rd graders to go ice skating. James really loved looking all around, for the majority of the time he was on the side lines and bundled up nice and warm. My students just love baby James and they all take their turns holding him. It is so good for him, as it allows him to get to know other people and not be fussy about going to others. As a 3rd grade class, we went on a field trip to The Peaks Ice Arena in Provo. My students have been working so hard and deserved a big reward. We had a blast, skating, falling, laughing and crying. They were such troopers and some of them left learning a great lesson. Some of the smartest kids in my class, who find school pretty easy were the ones who struggled to skate the most. Since it was a lot of their first times,a few of them got humbled really fast. They got so frusterated becasue everyone it came easy to many of the students who find school to be harder. I brought them to the side and asked them how it felt and they said not good. I then explained to them that to some students school is just as hard as skating is to them. They were in shock and I just told them that this was a lesson for them to understand how frusterating school can be to others. This is my awesome, cute class and some parent volunteers who made it possible for us to go.

We love Amby

We were so lucky to have Aunty Amber come visit us on her 23rd Birthday. Baby James loved being held, cuddled and loved by his cute Aunt. We had so much fun with her, she is always the greatest to be around and she was such a great help. Of course we went to Cafe Rio, talked and talked, she took some dang good pictures of James and our little family. Again, I have to brag, she is the most amazing photographer, she captures the greatest poses. You gotta check out her website, it's Amber Holt Photography on my link list. Thanks again sis, for all do and for making the fun and fast visit just to see us. You Rock and I will see you in a month and a half.

Sniffles and Coughs

Jameserman is not feeling to hot. He has had a really runny nose and a little cough. It makes me so sad when he coughs so much and I can't do anything for him. These last 2 days have been a little tough knowing exactly what to do for him when he is belting out with his terror cry. I have found that one of the only things that works is taking him outside. He loves to be outside. As he hears a car coming closer, he turns his head and follows it with his eyes. It is so funny to watch, it's like the way dogs watch cars. I just pray that James will get better soon. I hate to see him sick and not feeling his best. He threw- up for his 3rd time 2 days ago, it was a lot of rice cereal that came out of our little boy. I must admit that James is a total champ though, he can go from feeling so sick and sad to a happy smiley little stud in just minutes (when he wants to). I have never see cuter feet than his little feet. I constantly nibble on them. I am so proud to be the mother of our little James.

I hope they call me on a mission...

When I have grown a foot or two....

I hope by then I will be ready....

To teach and preach and do as missionaries do.

James Loved His First Easter

Our little baby chick hatched with a cute little smile on Easter . First Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Bunny Experience James had his first Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday morning at the Cedar Hills park. We went with all his cousins and everyone had to go in their own age category. Little James, Scarlett and McKay had help from their mommy and daddy of course. He was pretty content being held by the Mommy Easter bunny.

The whole clan of happy egg hunters. James even held his own Easter basket. What a tough little guy.

I was so proud of him and how he held it all by himself.

James liked his 3 colorful Easter eggs.

Later on our brother, Joel took us to the new Cedar Hills Walmart. He was quite proud of it. I will admit that it is way nicer than any other Walmart I have ever been to before. I guess it has to keep up to all the beautiful houses in that area too. While we were there we met the Daddy Easter bunny and had a fun little picture with him.

Easter Morning

My two boys went on their Easter egg hunt in our backyard to see what the Easter bunny had brought them. Daddy is so great with baby James, because he makes it so much fun for me to watch. We always talk to James as if he was old enough to understand us.

Even though James is not old enough to know what is happening, I think he knows more than we think. He seemed way interested in the balls and toys he got. Easter at Nana's What a spoiled boy, he went on his 3rd hunt at Nana's house after a huge delicious dinner . James did so well sitting up the majority of the time. His back is so strong, he's almost got it to the point where he doesn't even need our help anymore. He really wanted to eat the eggs. His cousin Scarlett had fun sharing some of her eggs with our little guy too. I loved watching him interact as much as he could with his cousins, he is loved so much by all of them. They all call him BABY JAMES. He is constantly smothered with kisses from everyone. As it is Easter it is even more important to remember our Savior Jesus Christ. He has died for each one of us and was resurrected.

As I taught my 3rd graders the real reason behind Easter, I could not help but realize how innocent and sad they were for what Jesus Christ had to go through for during his death and resurrection. As I explained the nails pierced in his hands and than in his wrists, I could tell that every single child experienced some sort of sorrow for the pain he felt. I had them poke their hand with their finger nail and then asked them to think of a time they had bled from a few pores. I then reminded them that Jesus Christ bled from every single poor. As we discussed the pain, each student was engaged in the lesson and had many questions to ask. Once we started talking about the resurrection my students had a lot of comments to make about what they already knew took place. Since I was teaching in school I could only discuss the things in the bible, so once a question was asked about when we will see Christ again, I had to redirect the topic.

I truly believe and know that our Savior raised from the dead and gave new life as a way to allow us to know that we will all have the chance to return to him and be resurrected as he was into his presence. I love Jesus so much and this Easter I think I am able to feel how much love Heavenly Father had for His son Jesus Christ, now that I have a child of my own. I can only imagine how hard it was for our father to watch Jesus go through all he did for all of us, his brothers and sisters. Wow, what an eye opener and a sacrifice that we should never forget, but remember everyday of our lives, not just on Easter.

James at 5 months

Today James turned 5 months. He is such a cute little boy and I just want to eat him up! I find myself nibbling at his chunky legs and just kissing him everywhere cause I just can't get enough of him. He weighs 16 lbs 8oz and is 26 inches long. James is now eating rice cereal and loves it, he wimpers when it doesn't come fast enough. Eventhough it is all over him by the end of his feeding, it is so much fun seeing how much he loves real food. He eats quite abit, I guess this is the beginning of our big food bill. He goes to sleep on a full tummy and is able to sleep for a good 8-10 hours most nights. He is still drinking my milk and drinks a big whopping amount of 6-10 oz each sitting, I am just glad I can still produce enough to keep up. James has shown a great like for his fingers and mommys fingers. He goes to town sucking all 4 fingers at one time. Sometimes I have to make sure he isn't gagging himself. He sucks so hard and I have come to believe that it is soothing to him. He doesn't love his binky, he will take it occasionally, but doesn't rely on it. James loves his mommy and daddy so much, anytime he hears their voices he kicks his legs up and down and gives a great big smile. My favorite is after he has had a good night sleep or nap and I go in to pick him up and he just looks up at me, gives me the cutest little no teeth smile and coos for me to pick him up. He is quite the talker, he is always making some type of noise. I honestly think he is going to be very social when he gets older, because he is constantly around me and his daddy and we just don't seem to be very quiet people. He continually trys to communicate to us and loves to baby talk a lot. Sometimes I try to make up words that he has said, but I don't think he has actually said any particular word.James can change so fast from crying to smiling, and boy he smiles a lot. All we have to do to get a smile from him is talk a bit higher, smile and talk baby talk or loudly and he loves it. He has rolled over more than a handfull of times, but will never do it on cue. Daddy and James have their bonding times as he does his balancing act, his superman fly and wrestling(James just sits their while daddy pretends). James loves it, he is such a busy little guy, he's so curious and is always moving and loves stimulation. He absolutley love the outdoors,going on stroller rides and completely loves the fresh air on his skin. He loves his little blanky and when he is really tired all you need to do is put it between his arms and he'll grab it and rub it on his cheecks. He loves his blanky and it really is a comfort to him. He is so content and is so interested in everything happening around him. Mommy and daddy still tiptoe across his room everynight to look at how precious and blessed we are. We have been saying night prayers with him and while one of us say the prayer, the other folds his arms and repeats the last word of the sentence. It is pretty neat to watch as though he knows what we are doing. On most occasions he just listens and doesn't fuss. I have placed him infront of pictures of Christ and he has given me the sweetest smiles, it is as though he knows it is his brother, Jesus. James also loves his reflection, I am not quite sure he knows it is him, but he stares at his reflection and laughs and smiles. He wants to sit up all by himslef so much. He has sat up by himself for probebly 10 seconds at the most and then tumbles over. He loves to pull himself up and stand up. He has such a strong back and legs. James Wallace is currently wearing 6-9 month clothing and has grown out of his 3-6 month clothes. He is normally very warm, which make his feet sweat hot and sometimes even stink. They are the cutest little feet I have ever seen, so I still kiss them and nibble on them. James has his days were he will get so fussy because he is so tired that he doesn't know what to do, so he just cries as loud as he can. At these moments I feel so bad for him because he wants to fall asleep so bad, but it take a few deep cries before he figures it out. The most precious moments are when he falls asleep in my arms, which is not very often anymore. The funniest thing is that he snores alittle while he sleeps, I guess he takes after his daddy. James loves toys and anything he can stick in his mouth. He is a pro at grabbing things and examinig them. His favorite is material books, he tends to try to eat them and he loves the ones that make noises when you turn the page. He has figured out how to turn the page, even though it takes him a while. He can only handle his standing scosser for 10 minutes, then he's ready for something new. He loves laying on his back more then his stomach. James grabs his little toes and is fasinated by them. He has held his bottle on his own for a few seconds, but just needs to learn s little more cordination. He is constaltly grabbing my hair and rubbing it with his fingers or putting it in his mouth. James loves people and has no problem going to anyone. I have tried to put him around other kids, because I want him to get along with them and like them. He shows a great interest in anyone who will give him a big smile and entertain him. His best buddies at such a young age are Kayden, Carter and Ruby. It is so rewarding to come home everyday from teaching 3rd grade and seeing my little cutie pie and spending the rest of the day with him. Daddy and I have a great schedule- I feed him before I leave for work. Then I go to work from 8-12, while daddy watches the big guy. I only miss one feeding and than I spend the rest of the day just loving and hugging our budz. It's the best cause this way daddy gets quality time with our little stud and so do I.

Balancing Act

April Fools Day

So for April fools day, I played a little( or should I say big) trick on my students. It was just to tempting. So I got to school and told the kids we weren't really doing anything, so I told them to take a nap, read or find something to do. Then I left to go play a joke on one of our head honchos- Bonnie. A bunch of other teachers- Liz, Rebecca,Leah and I went to her office, grabbed her and sat her down on her chair, wrapped her in saran rap and rolled her to all the classrooms and threw candy out to all the kids. The kids though it was the coolest thing. When I passed my room, my kids were gone. As we went to the other classes, I found them on the secondary side hiding in 5th grade. I guess one of the other teachers played a joke on me. So I played it back on them and acted like I was mad that they were out of our class. I told them to hurry back to class before they got into trouble. As I went back to class they were gone again. Rebecca, the 1st grade teacher-one of my good friends, hid my kids. When I found them, I acted like I was so mad at them for not listening to me. They kept on saying "Oh, but it's April fools day." I acted like I was so mad at them and raised my voice (I never do that, so they thought I was really mad). As they all hurried to back, I got the principle, Mr. Crippen, to play along with us. We both went in with very stern faces and told them how disappointed we were and how disrespectful and irresponsible they were. One of the kids yelled out- "Your are totally April Fooling us." I pretended to get mad and told him, that he had just gone to far. Then they started to take us seriously. We told them that their parents would be contacted, they would not have recess, they would be writing from dictionaries, etc. Some kids were about to cry. Then Mr. Crippen went to get the dictionaries and I administered a test to them. I told them to take it and that if they were not able to get a very good grade on it that they would most likely be staying in 3rd grade next year. (At this time, I kept thinking- am I going to far?) Then suddenly a hand goes up, than another, and another. I told them I couldn't help them. The test was one on Linear equations. Then I started to see some tears fall. I had taken it too far. I had to stop. I told them all to hand in their tests and sit down. They did- at this time they were all being overly obedient and all eyes on me, wondering what would be next. I asked them what they had learned this morning. I had a few kids answer with little sweet correct answers of respect and following directions, etc. Than I raised my voice and said,"The number one thing you must have learned is that it is April Fools Day!" They all started laughing or continuing to cry with a smile on their face. We all had a group hug and I kept on telling them I was joking. The kids were in total laughs and couldn't;t believe it. At this time, Mr. Crippen was returning and I just told him I couldn't continue, it was just going to far. I love those kids, they are such good sports and they make teaching a blast. Moments like these will create maybe the best April Fools jokes that will ever be played on them. They kept on saying- that was good, or I will always remember this. With Josh, I just had the gym teacher call Josh and tell him that my teaching was on probation, because of a parents complaint about my joke for April Fools day.He basically said that I was up for review from the board and that I was without a job until further notice. Josh says he didn't take it, but I really think he did for some time, because he was on the phone with him for quite some time. Josh is hard to get, because he is a jokester himself so he is sceptical sometimes, mostly on April Fools day. April fools day is fun, yet I'm glad it only come once a year.