Wrist key holder

Now that I am involved in a weekly craft night with some of my new friends from our new ward, it is so nice getting projects done and hanging out with the girls. Usually I get James to bed first and than head over around 7:30 or 8:00 and stay pretty late. I have had some blonde moments, just because when it's 1:30 in the morning and I woke that morning at 6:30, my body may be there, but not my mind. These wrist key holders are so nice to have. Usually when I am going places I have my hands full and it is nice just to have them on your wrist, unlock the door and than drop them and still have them with you. Plus, they are cute. Josh doesn't seem to love holding the keys and supporting the zebra print too much, he is fast to place them in his pockets. Oh well. I will tell you, I think this may help me with the problem that Josh and I have quite often- loosing our keys. It's bigger,convenient and quite noticable.

Stroller Cover

Since I loved the baby seat cover so much, I thought of a way to make one for my stroller. Whenever I go walking or running during the day the weather is so hot and sunny. Thus, James is effected and seems to get to much sun. So I made a fun, summer print cover for the stroller. It is awesome. I can place it down, when it's hot, or I can raise a side or roll it up if I don't need it. And to make it even more convenient I made it out of outside upholstery, so it's waterproof.

Tag blanky

Ever since James was born he has loved textures. He loves soft things. His favorite thing to sleep with is his silky blanket. Well since summer days are really hot and it is sometimes rough taking his blanket everywhere I made this super cute little hand tag blanky. It is perfect size for him and when he was a bit younger the stimulation of the ribbons kept his busy for hours. Even now when he is drinking his bottle he will just play with the little tags . This was so easy and fun to make, any baby would love one.

It hurt......

My little sweetie was in the most pain I have ever seen him experience last night.

It hurt...... It hurt when I received a phone call at work and Allyse told me he had been struggling all day. It hurt that I could not be there holding him at that very second. It hurt as I drove home as fast as I could, wondering if he was alright. It hurt holding him in my arms knowing he wasn't acting his normal self.

It hurt having to look at his red little face, and his sad little facial expressions as he whimpered in pain.

It hurt reading his temperature at 101.6 degrees.

It hurt not knowing what to do to make him feel better.

It hurt taking him to Insta-care for the first time, not knowing what to expect.

It hurt him to let go of me and be weighed. (As I layed him on the weigh scale, he screamed with all his might and held onto my hair as hard as he could.)

It hurt him when they took his temperature by ear.

It hurt having to see my poor little innocent angel tested and prodded to find out that he had his first earache.

It hurt him when I gave him his antibiotic. He threw up 3 times all over himself in his car seat and had to sit in the gunk for ten minutes, until we got home.

It hurt him to not be in the arms of his momma or Nana. (Surprisingly the only time he ever wants to cuddle is when he is sick- so I savored these snuggles).

It hurt when his temperature kept going up, up , up ...... all the way to 103.6 degrees.

It hurt placing him in the tub, to cool him down, and seeing him ball his little eyes out.

It hurt him when we placed cool cloths all over his body in hopes to lower his temperature.

It hurt knowing that once a child reaches 104 degrees it is beyond dangerous.

It hurt James, Daddy, Nana and I just seeing seeing him sick.

Finally after many hours into the morning of taking his temperature every 10 minutes, placing cool clothes all over him, placing him in the cool bath a number of times, trying to get liquids down him, giving him Motrin and Tylenol as his fever and pain reducer , laying down and having him on my chest (and me in a damp t-shirt) and a cool cloth on his back, his temperature thankfully lowered to 96.8 degrees at 4 am.

All is well.

He slept until 7:30, went and layed with daddy, while mom slept for an hour after the exhausting, long night. Than he was back to his normal, happy, smiley, giggly, spazzy self.

I am so thankful for the power of the priesthood and that Josh was worthy to give James his first blessing (besides his baby blessing), I know that it is through the power of the priesthood that James received strength to fight his pain and sickness.

Now...... it hurts not to have him in my arms, snuggling close and wanting his momma.

Yet, I would take him HEALTHY like he is today over any sickness when he is in pain and HURTS.

We love you James and would do anything for you to keep you safe.

A fabulous day

Last Wednesday was a fabulous day. We all woke up early, went to work with my little fam, I got my classroom set up and ready for teacher meet and greet (with parents). We had a staff party with all my co-workers and ended off the night with my girlfriends, and drove the 45 minutes home to Pleasant Grove, cuddled with my 2 men and dreamed sweet dreams. These are my amazing friends from my old Spanish Vista ward. It was really hard to leave some of them, because I got close to them. A few of them used to be my walking buddies and it was just the best going with the kiddos and just having girl talk. I really needed it and loved it. This was a goodbye party that we went to for my dear friend Erin. Erin is so amazing and just a total go getter in life. She has taught me allot about being strong and being a fabulous mother. She is solid in the gospel and I just love her. She will truly be missed.

Earlier that day Josh and I got to participate in the funnest laser tag games. The school I work at was having a staff party and they brought laser tag to us. We got decked out, taught and then we were out playing. It was throughout the whole school. We were all running through the hallways, (lights out) classrooms and bathrooms. We were trying to steal the other teams life savers. It was intense and a blast, we all broke out into a great sweat. Then we had Goodwood catered to us. Yum, yum. I love the people I work with and for. It is seriously like home to me and I just love how comfortable and loved my whole family and I feel there. Liberty Academy is the place!!

What's for dinner?

Three delicious cuties....

Ingredients: 3 fresh, white skinned turkeys 3 cups of bright smiles plenty of laughs and giggles 3 handfulls of love Hug often and kiss everyday.

Serving Size: A whole life time worth

Debilition Derby

Wow, James had the time of his life at the Nephi Debilition Derby. During almost the whole time he remained on my lap and daddy's, completely stimulated and interested. I guess the loud noises and the cars crashing into one another really was enough excitement for him to be completely engaged in what was in front of him. We went with Josh's best friend, Launey and his family. We are making it a tradition to go each year now with them. He calls it the "Red Neck Olympics", and that totally suites the crowd that goes to these crazy events.

James at 9 months

James is taking off and on the go constantly. He is a total mover and a shaker. Ever since he learned the mechanics of crawling, he has progressed everyday and now he is super speedy. A week after he turned eight months, he also pulled himself up onto his crib, then the couch and now anything that is stable. James is very curious how things and people work. He loves to be in on the excitement. He especially loves being around kids of his same size. His whole body starts shaking and he has a smile from ear to ear. For instance whenever he is around his cousins he wants to play with them, and seems to crawl all around following them. James only wishes he could walk like McKay. James has learned allot about playing with others in the last few weeks. Now that he is around his cousins allot more, he has had to toughen up and realize that momma is not always going to be there to protect him. He has been hit at and has had toys grabbed from him on numerous occasions. At first he had no idea what to do, so he would frantically look around and just start crying. It was really tough for him at first, but he is a lot better now and he can pretty much hold his own. He actually really loves to play with Elisa and McKay the most. He will sometimes just follow them around. It's so cute to watch because he has to crawl while the other 2 are walking or running. I know he wishes he could do that too, because sometimes he gets so discouraged and holds his head down and kind of pouts. Molly is so cute with baby James, she loves to hold him and give him loves. Our sweet baby is totally wanting to be just like daddy. He loves to find out how things work and always wants to do what ever daddy or I am doing. Even though he may not know exactly what is going on, he still loves to be active and touching anything he can get his little cute paws on. He loves music, and has a great ear for a good beat as he sometimes will rock to the music. He is so dang fun to watch and just dance around with. I always grab him and just swing him around and he laughs his little head off. Man, I just love being super crazy with him. He also loves it when I run or skip with him and I can tell by the way he grips my shirt and opens his mouth because he can't hold his little laughs and smiles in anymore. James is so much fun and I will tell you this much- he definitely knows how to have fun and he is not mellow on bit, he is always doing something. Our little champ is growing in height so much. When comparing him with other kids his size, he overpowers in height by a long shot, so I'm pretty sure he is still pretty high in percentile for height. I think he's going to be a lucky guy and get great height, maybe even taller than daddy. (Cross our fingers). Since he is moving so much as he is crawling everywhere, he is actually thinning out. Currently he is weighing in at 18 lbs 6 oz . James also has 2 bottom teeth. He is such a drooler and sometimes his whole collar of his shirt is just drenched. He loves chomping on anything with rubbery or that has cold textures. I will admit that he is getting really heavy to carry in his car seat, his long legs hang out of it too. I really wish we could switch to a face forward one. Since James gets to see his cousins everyday, he also gets to have a "rub a dub dub 3 men in a tub", with them. They all get along so well and James just loves to be with little people his size too. Just this month James has really showed a great love for the tub. Almost everyday he will crawl to the tub, pull himself up, stand and start hitting the tub, indicating that he wants to get in, than he will try to pull himself up (he's not that good yet though) and he'll spend so long just waiting until one of us come and put him in (water or not, it doesn't matter to him). He could spend all day in the tub if we let him. I would have to say that the tub is his favorite place to be, besides the swimming pool. He loves water and is our little fish. Water can be poured over his head and hit his eyes and he's just fine with it. He's super awesome! Our little man is learning how to sit on our laps in church. It is so hard for a little guy who has so much energy to not be crawling and released to explore. During sacrament is the only time we really are trying to have him sit with us. People say teach them young. Isn't daddy and our little champ so good looking in their Sunday clothes with the scriptures, ready to go to church. I will admit that I am very lucky to have the hottest boys as mine. James is still drinking his mommas milk and eating well (not as much as before, but I think he was going through a growth spurt last month). He loves big person food the best, especially yogurt, Nana's rice, apple sauce and anything that is BIG person food (or in the hands of someone). He is still a blanky boy. Whenever I put him down to nap or night time, he grabs it, rubs his eyes and searches for his ba ba (aka bottle). His eyes will get sleepy and he will usually be out in a few minutes or he'll have to be put into his crib and than he whimpers a bit and is out(if he is tired). We still just stare at him when he's sleeping and it is so fun because daddy and I think that our little guy is the cutest little cutie in the whole world. We are definitely in love with him, I can't even imagine life without him. He is our angel baby, he melts my heart.

Baby Bibs

I love these bibs. I have made a few for James and as gifts and I think they are just cute and stylish. I mean what more do you need but a stylish little bib to cover your cutie pie. I will admit that I am always laughing at James, because eating is such a messy process for him. But when we are all through, I just think, thank goodness for these bibs that cover his whole front area down to his waste. Perfect!

Cozy Blanket

This is just a cute little blanky that I made when I was in my crazy create mode. Oh course it's not for James, but it is so soft, I just love baby blankets. I have always wondered why they don't make big people blankets that are made out of the same comfy cozy material. Maybe one day I will make Josh and I a king sized (as soft as a baby) blanket....... someday......

Matching Beanies aka Toques

This was one of the easiest things to make, and how fun is it that they both match. All I did was take an old sweater, that I don't use any more, and cut it out into a half oval. I used the bottom of the sweater as the rim of the beanie. I just estimated how big our heads were and adjusted it accordingly. Now that I know how easy they are to make , I really want to find a really cute old sweater and make some more. Note: I never knew what Americans called these beanies until I went to a store asking them were their toques (Canadian term) were. I felt kind of silly, using the best description that I could, while learning a new American term.

Stitching

I love the B attitudes by President Gordon B. Hinckley, thus I stitched this for my little sister who has always been so giving and willing to take amazing pictures for us.

For my mom's birthday, I stitched the following. Mom has always made us feel loved and have always been a great example to us. The love of God has always been and will always be at home, thanks to my mother. Love you mom and Happy Belated Birthday!

My friend, Stacey has been so great. She has recently introduced me to a new craft that I really enjoy- Stitching. She is my inspiration, because her plethora of finished projects are amazing. Her house is so cutely decorated according to each holiday and season. I can't wait to do more. I will admit that it does require plenty of hours and patience. The first two that I did, I pretty much started on my way to Canada and completed them before I left. Thanks Stacey for teaching me and I can't wait until we get together to do more.