Merry Christmas to All

 May this Christmas be joyful and full of peace and happiness.

 We have been so blessed this year with our newest addition.
She is so happy and full of goodness.
I hope all of you feel as blessed as we do.

My youngest sibling and only brother is serving his LDS mission in California.

There is no greater place he could be this time of season, serving who we celebrate- Jesus Christ.

I am so proud of him!

I miss him like crazy and can't wait until next years Christmas when we are all together.

The True Meaning of Christmas

As I look into these innocent, precious eyes I am reminded of why we celebrate Christmas. It is the celebration of the Christ child, that makes this holiday season so special and peaceful. Jesus is the reason for the season. We must all look at what we value the most during this time of year. There are only a few days until the big day, and we may be rushing around making sure we have decorations up, presents bought, food, gifts, etc and focus to much on the hustle and bustle we are bombarded with. Have we made room for our Lord, Jesus Christ. Is he present in your homes and in your heart.

Josh and I talked in sacrament last week and were given the topic- 

Christmas Traditions Centered on Christ. 

Here is a little from my talk:

As I think abour the short number of days left until Christmas, I feel the need to keep my own thoughts focused more on the Savior. I want to slow down a nd truly see and feel the true beauty of this time of year. I want to be part of bringing a little more peace into this world and teaching my children to focus more on others and Christ's birth.

I briefly retold the story of Christ's birth on the American continent.......... "they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshiped him, and when they had opened their treasures, they presented  unto him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

President Thomas S. Monson quotes," time changes, years speed by, but Christmas continues sacred. In this marvelous dispensation of the fulness of times, our opportunity to give of ourselves are indeed limitless, but are also perishable. There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved."

So how will you and I make sure this Christmas is focused on our Christ child?

A Prayer for December Poem

Dearest God,

Please never let me crowd my life

Full to the brim

So like the keeper of Bethlehems Inn

I find I have no room for Him.

Instead, let my hearts door,

Be ever open,

Ready to welcome the newborn King.

Let me offer the best I have to Him. 

 Who gives me everything.

It is never to late to introduce new traditions into your family. Throughout my life my parents have always tried their best to bring us closer to Christ and the true meaning of Christmas. Some have stuck and we do them every year. Some we have tried and have not done them a second time. But this is fun in trying new things. THings that have flopped have created memories for our family.

Think of a few traditions you do every year. Now think of ones that only center around Jesus. 

Traditions we do each year:

• Scripture Bell Advent Calendar/ Bear Advent Calendar( activities to do as a family everyday)
• Act out the Nativity, while someone reads from the Bible
• Read the story " Teach the Children" the symboles of Christmas (eg. Santa: spirit og giving, Evergreen Trees: eternal life, Christmas Lights: Savior is the light of the world.)
• Have someone over for Christmas
• Visit the sick and needy
• Attend a live nativity together
• Baking and delivering plates of goodies to neighbors and friends
• Caroling
• Pick a less fortunate family to give a Christmas to (food, gifts, Christmas tree etc) 

When I was 8 years old, I learned the true meaning of CHristmas. My parents asked me to pick my favorite toy and to wrap it up as a present to give to someone who does not have much. I remember choosing my favorite barbie doll and crying when I had to depart with her. Yet as we entered the families apartment, we entered a place that had no furniture, barely any food and was just bare. It looked as though no one even lived there. We brought in the Christmas tree, gifts and boxes of food and watched as the family shed some tears of gratitude. It hit me hard- this is what Christmas is really about- Giving, not Receiving. I will be forever grateful for this humbling experience that has changed my attitude of Christmas. It was not about my Barbie anymore, it was about having the heart of service and feeling that love from your Savior. To show Jesus you love him, you serve. "For as you do it unto the least of my brothern, you have done it unto me."

The best tradition of all- doing kind deeds for others on a daily basis.

Traditions I want to start and teach:

• The White Stocking: Family hang up a white stocking at the beginning of December. It is a reminder to do kind acts of service for the Savior. Encourage family members to place notes of appreciation, love and noticing good deeds of others. Read all of them on Christmas.Your gift to the Savior. Then write a goal for the following year that you will do for the Savior. At the Beginning of December the following year, read your gift to Jesus and see if you did it.
• 12 Days of Christmas Nativity: For the 12 days of Christmas open up one gift a day that has a figure from the Nativity. Read the story  or scripture each night and keep on adding more verses until baby Jesus is born. On Christmas Eve unwrap Jesus, Jesus is born.
• Jesus is Here!: Christmas morning all kids are peeking out of their doors wondering if they can come out yet. Tell them they can come out when the nativity piece of baby Jesus is sitting int he hallway. They focus more on "Jesus is Here!" , instead of did Santa come?
• Family Service with Baby Jesus: Do a small kindness for Jesus by soing a service for someone inyour family, such as secretly making their bed and leaving a small figure of the Christ Child at the site of the service. That person then has to do a secret service to someone else in the family. Creating the Spirit of Service in the Home.
• 12 days of Christmas Story Books: Unwrap a meaningful and uplifting book each day and read as a family together. 

David O. McKay said " Christmas is a fitting time to renew our desires and to strengthen our determination to do all that lies within our power to make real among men the message haeralded by the angles when the Savior was born. Let us glorify God by seeking the good, the true, and the beautiful. Let us strive to establish peace on earth by exercising that same good will towards one another which God has shown us."

I n conclusion, I believe a beautiful way to prepare to have a Christ centered celebration during this Christmas Season is to pick traditions that will allow us to become even closer to our brother ,Jesus. We need to express gratitude and contemplate the beautiful meaning, life and example of Him whose birth we celebrate. May we take time to give thanks and ponder the matchless gift He has giiven us, then watch for the miracles to follow. 

In the name of Jesus Christ AMEN.

Rachel at 4 months

Rachel, you just keep on getting more and more beautiful.
I spend most of my days just staring at you and kissing your cute chubby cheeks and thighs. I call you my chunky monkey.
You have really grown this last month as you can lift your whole upper chest up and are really steady. You can pretty much sit up all by yourself with a little of my help. Daddy has you doing your balancing act and you can stay up for at least 10 seconds. You are super ticklish and love to be on your tummy more than your back.
You smile all the time, everyone is always telling me how happy you are. You are such an easy baby and not high maintenance at all. You still love being snuggled and held, but you are able to go to sleep by yourself now. You cry a little bit when I put you down sometimes, but are usually able to fall asleep in less then 5 minutes on your own. You are super good at nursing, but still won't sleep through the whole night. You usually wake up around 4:00 Am, but that is it, so I can't complain. In the mornings you love snuggling with your mommy and I totally soak these one on one times with you.
You love people and usually don't care about being passed around. If I we keep you up, you sure let us know that you are tired. You are eating every 3 hours, with no snacks in between. You are a fast drinker and only take about 15 minutes to feed, you love your milk. You are usually decked out in the cutest clothes and always wearing a bow or flower. You turn so many heads and everyone thinks you are adorable.
You are a dream come true and I just love having my own little angel with me all the time. This stay at home mommy thing is way to much fun, I wouldn't change it for the world.
I love you sweetheart and I can already tell that you have a charming, sweet and loving little personality. Don't grow to fast, mommy loves the stage you are at. I just wish that the infant stage could last double the amount of time it does.

James at 2 years old

James you are now such a big boy.
You have grown so fast and I look at you now and just can't believe how handsome you are.
You have such a fun little personality and you make us laugh all the time. You love playing with other kids and kids love playing with you because you play so nicely the majority of the time.
You adore your little sister and I love watching you when you don't know I am. You show baby sister pictures in books, you give her kisses all the time and you make sure she is warm when she doesn't have a blanket. I know she loves you already because she always smiles at you when you are talking to her. You always call her "baby" and make sure that she is involved in prayers too. When I ask who you want to pray you usually say mommy or daddy, but just recently you point to yourself and say "Ames." You will sometimes start the prayer by yourself and you are doing well repeating the one words of importance that I say. You are so quick to say Amen though.
You talk a lot, not any sentences, but lots of words. I love that you can communicate and let me know what you want. You always ask for juice, but that can mean juice, milk or water. You always say dang do after you eat and give mommy a hug. You have good manners even in public places- you usually say pease or dang do without me asking you to.
Here are some of your favorite things:
Buzz, reading and looking at pictures in books, drinking out of your sippie, stroller rides, park, blanky, dumping things out, your fort under the stairs, daddy, baby, moma, nana, grandma and grandpa, outdoors, playing with other kids, Toy Story and Land Before Time movies, toothpaste, candy, cheese, any kind of fruit, coloring, making messes for mommy to clean up, cuddles at night and holding hands, kisses, dancing, tickles, airplane rides, singing popcorn popping and ring around the rossy.
Words you say everyday:
Momma- (first thing in the morning), Dadda, Baby, Juice, Buzz, Pease, Dank Do, Hold, Hair, 
Things you do not like:
Almost every kind of vegetable, meat, blowing your nose, and sometimes diaper changing when it's poo-pee, when mommy tries to sit you on the toilet and you aren't interested (for the month of October you did awesome and didn't poo your pants for a few weeks- you were so interested and loved going on the potty. Now you aren't even interested and doesn't want anything to do with it.)
Things you do that I love:
You keep saying momma, momma, momma in the morning until I come and get you out of your crib. When you see me you stand up and put your arms up and I grab you. You wrap your little arms around me and for a moment let me hug and kiss you. I love the moments where you just don't let go.
I love when daddy comes home and you see him at the door. Your smile widens and you go running towards him. You give him a big hug and expect him to wrustle with you. Daddy takes you down to the ground and you just keep screaming and laughing for as long as daddy will last. You also love the pillow throwing game and the harder they throw it the better you like it. You have been taken down to the ground pretty hard.
I love it when you come into the bathroom while I am putting my makeup on and want to be right next to me on the counter. You always go through my bag and laugh when you pretend to put makeup on your face.
I love when you take baths with daddy or I and you want all your toys to join us too. It is a small tub, but you could care less. You just keep on asking "pease".
I think it is cute when you come up to me with a candy or something you want and say "Dang Do" as though I already said you could have it.
I totally like how you think Buzz is real and that he is your superhero. You take him everywhere and laugh or smile everytime you push his talking button. You taught yourself the Buzz lazer move and use it whenever someone is tackling you down or when we are playing.
I love how excited you get when we go to Mother Goose time at the library. You go onto the carpet and start dancing . You follow directions pretty well and love story time.
It is so cute  when I see you just sitting on the ground looking at a book for long periods of time.Sometimes you will just stare at the same picture for a good 5 minutes. I often wonder what is going on in that head of yours.
I LOVE everything about YOU

You are dear to my heart and I am just amazed at your growth and interest in learning new things. You really are a smart boy, you catch on really quickly and are very observant. I love you little stud! I especially love your hugs, kisses and when you say Momma. I love that my name is the first to be said usually when you wake up or get hurt. I will always love you and protect you hunny.

Normal Camera Shots

I have always loved taking pictures, ever since I remember. My whole family thought that I was going to become the photographer of the family. Yet Amber has taken the lead, and now I yearn to learn how to take really good pictures. While I was visiting Amber, I helped her with a few photo shoots and loved every minute of it. It was fun. It was exciting, but most of all I loved it. I helped her change backgrounds, make the kids smile and help with moving things. For a moment, I totally pictured myself doing this too. So there were a few days where I dressed up my kids and went down to her studio and just snapped shots. These are ones I took with just my regular point and shoot. Then Amber had me take pictures with her camera and it made the world of difference.

I told them how much I loved it, then Amber said she had an extra camera that she never uses anymore. It was her first professional one she got. ..... And it is way NICE.

SO Josh bought it from her for my Christmas present. How perfect. I am excited to learn how to use and and she also gave us photo shop... AHHHH.... I can't wait to learn how to use that too. I have a lot of reading and learning to do, so great pictures might take a while to see on my blog. Thanks a ton Amber for making one of my dreams on my list true. I really want to get good at taking pictures. And hopefully I can learn a lot from the best- Amber who I really think is just so great at capturing shots and editing photos. I'm so excited I could yell. Christmas came early for me this year, but it will just give me more time that I hope to have figuring it out. Yahoo!! So these pictures were done without a good camera or photoshop, but they are still cute of Rach and James.

My Little Turkeys

Josh finally joined us once school was out and headed to Canada in a crazy storm. I kept telling him that I would rather have an alive husband than a dead one on the side of the road trying to see us faster. He missed us so much that he couldn't bare being away from us for any longer so he left regardless of the weather. Well I15 was closed off because of bad roads and he had to stay the night in Pocatello. I was sad I couldn't see him sooner, but also releaved that he was forced to be safe. He said he was driving 10 mph on the highway the majority of the time. Well instead of it only taking him 12 hours it took him 16 hours. Poor guy, but I know we were worth it. We were so excited to see him, we had a poster up and all flocked to him when he drove up. He couldn't keep his hands off me and we both agreed it was way to long being apart from each other.

We were super busy that whole week, so my mom made a turkey dinner for us that Saturday night. It was yummy. Thanks mom for going all out for us Americans. That same weekend we had a Leavitt Reunion/ Christmas party. We went water sliding the first night, then had taco soup and hot dogs. Then watched a slide show of Wallace Leavitt ( grandpa) life. What a great man, I just love him and miss him.

The following day we had breakfast with all the relatives (ones I had not seen for years), we played games, told stories, watched skits and did a white elephant gift exchange. The Leavitt's can get a bit feisty during this game. Josh and I did go home with one good gift- Dr. Seuss game for the kids (brand new). I am really proud to be part of Wallace and Helen's posterity, they have really been great examples of hard work and strong testimony. I remember how much they loved us and how they would spend time with us. My favorite memory of them is going to the farm, seeing Grandma in the kitchen and Grandpa out working. We loved the barn, the rabbits and the horses best. The fishing pond was a big hit too. But most of all I am just glad they raised my dad the way they did. My dad reminds me a ton of grandpa, and I really look up to both of them.

Trip to Canada with just us 3

Tending to a greater cause:

This year is the first year we will not be spending Christmas with my family. It's a pure bummer. Earlier this year were thinking that Josh had to work this Christmas, so we told mom and dad we wouldn't be coming up , so they planned a trip to see my sister Stacy's in Virgina, since she hasn't been able to come for Christmas in a while. I am really pretty sad that I can't be with my whole family, because we are so close and just have a blast during the Christmas season together. But to make the best out of the whole situation, I am also kind of excited about the fact that we get to have Christmas just with our little family for the first time. I am especially excited to see James' expressions and reactions to all that Christmas brings. So, I went to Canada for most of November so I could get a dose of my family. I ended up staying with my youngest sister, Amber.

Poor girl, she had just had little Channing about a month ago and she was experiencing Gull Stone Attacks, so we dropped everything at moms house and drove up to Calgary to be with her. To make a long story short, she had to wait in the hospital for 4 days until she finally got her gull bladder removed. So I was basically with my babies at her house just hanging out by myself. It had snowed a ton , stormed and the roads were awful so they thought it best if I just stay at Amber's house.

Meeting Cousin, Channing:

Rachel loved meeting his favorite boy cousin, Channing Michael. They even held hands the first time they laid by each other. They are so dang cute. He is 2 months younger than Rachel, but he is a growing boy and has always been so long. They are pretty much the same size, it s crazy. I am excited that Amby had a little one so that they can grow to be best cousins. I am so proud of Amber for being such a good mommy. She cares so much for her little guy and has seemed to take on all of these challenges getting pregnant and then having even worst pain with the gull stones than labor. She is one tough cookie. She never complained once, but I could just tell she was in pain. I honestly had a pleasure taking care of her and Channing when she came home from the hospital. I was able to clean, do their laundry, make meals and take care of my kids and help with Channing. I am glad it worked out this way, so that she had someone their to help her out. I really feel like I got a lot closer to her husband Brad too. I just love that Holt family so much.

Craft Sales:

While I was in Canada I was also able to do 2 craft shows. It was so much fun. I just love crafting so much and creating. And Canada doesn't have a lot of the baby things Utah does right now, so the week before I left Canada, I spent endless hours sewing all these things. I had a blast doing it, but I was sleep deprived. Yet the end products were awesome.

I had my little model all decked out in everything I made. I ended up keeping her with me the whole time, because it was so much more convenient and she is just a good baby.I actually ended up selling a lot of the things she was wearing because she looked so dang cute. She was my greatest advertisement and everyone gaga and gooed over her.

I was kind of disappointed at the turn out of people. There were barely any people who came to either craft shows. I don't know if it was because of the cold weather, the lack of advertisements, the area or the fact that there were other craft sales going on at the same time. For the amount of people who showed up, I did pretty good, but most of my buyers where other vendors. I also had a few items made from some friends, so we had a ton of variety to sell. I know I had good stuff because so many people ranted and raved about it and I was even asked to go to some other craft sales to be a vendor.

I know I will do one again, it was way to fun not to. I loved the reactions from different people and I just enjoyed how many people you meet and when you sell something it is like a great feeling of accomplishment.

James Celebrates a second time:

Grandma was so awesome to throw James another birthday party for him, so my side of the family could celebrate. James love his grandma so much, he spent tons of time with her on the weekends. Grandma is so entertaining and fun and she totally spoiled him with toys to keep him busy while he was there. James got a yummy cars ice-cream cake and he let you know he liked it by tasting a bunch of the icing before everyone else got a slice. Then he ate his piece with his jungle animals. Grandma and Grandpa got him a good looking winter coat, a beanie and gloves. Amber got him Chuck the truck that talks and does tricks. Brad got him his favorite book, it has Buzz and a lot of other Disney characters he loves. That was something we read many times a day while staying in doors so much. Thanks everyone for another magical night for James' second birthday. And mom, I loved the decorations and cake- you rock! Thanks for making James feel so loved and special! It was super cold there, but the first day it rained, James was so excited. He wanted to walk out in his bare feet. We were all sick with a runny nose and sore throat so I brought the snow to him in warm surroundings. I piled a few buckets full of snow and filled bags with it, then he played with the snow in the tub. I then filled the tub with warm water and brought in some more, he played for probably an hour with it. I made lots of trips back and forth, but it was so worth.

Daddy we miss you:

It got to the point where we really needed our daddy. We were without him for almost 3 weeks, because he had to go to school. He finally joined us the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. He sacrificed driving in terrible weather at about 10 miles per hour just to see is sooner. Poor guy, they closed off I15 because of the severe storm and he had to wait another night. But he made it 16 hours later all in one piece. We made his arrival kind of a big deal.

When daddy joined us, we even had a better time. Daddy always makes it more fun. We love our daddy and we hate not being with him everyday. Daddy missed his little munchkins so much and man, did he ever miss me.

Our Bundle of Joy

This was Rachel's Birth Announcement. We are so happy she has joined our little family. I just can't keep my hands off this little girl. She is the cutest and she has already blessed our lives so much. Thanks Amber, I love these photos and the announcement is just what I wanted. You are gifted!

Rachel at 3 months

I am late on this post, but better late than never. I will recap her happenings from October 4th to November 4th, at 3 months old. Rachel was still decked out in her cloths and was wearing 0-3 month clothing. She barley ever wore shoes because they would usually end up falling off. Rachel weighed between 13 and 14 lbs and is still an amazing nurser. Thank goodness she has gotten over her gas problem she was having earlier. I felt so bad for her little body. Now she is doing a lot better at nights. One night she gave me 10 hours. It was awesome, but I kept checking on her to make sure she was still breathing. Regularly she gives me about 5 to 6 hours of sleep. She has been joining us for baths now, and she loves the warm water. She is still so itsy-bitsy and enjoyed her time in the bucket with James by her side. James was so gentle and loving to her. It was just fun seeing him all protective for his sister. Don't worry we were right next to them, just in case.

We have made weekly trips to the library and Rachel just nestles in her sling right close to me. She loves the sling and will be out and not make a peep the whole time. Rachel is still one who just loves to be held. I have started to do a lot more tough love. I have had her cry herself to sleep and lay in the swing a lot more this month. Yet it seems to be helping as each time it seems she can put herself to sleep easier. I do feel like I can get more things done. I look back at the first 2 months and really think that all I did was hold and stare at her all day and tend to James. I didn't get much else down. I am trying to get James and Rachel to sleep at the same time, even though Rachel will only sleep about 45 minutes to 1 hour increments. I have been trying to get her on a schedule of sleep, feed (full feedings), wake time and repeat again. Instead of just offering the boob every time she cries, I have made myself stick to this pattern the majority of the time. It does help and it does work, even though it is hard to see her cry.

She is a tough little one. Her neck has always been strong, but now she holds it up with not even a little bob. She knows how to inch herself up too in her bassinet and sometimes breaks up in a cry as she bumps her head at the top and can't move anymore. She has rolled over a few times on her own, so now I can't just leave her alone on the bed with no pillows around her to guard her. Her legs are now locking and she can put weight on them for a little bit at a time.

Rachel loves her brother, she smiles a lot around him and will sometimes just stare at him or smile at him. James loves his sister, he will only hold her for 2-8 seconds though and then he is done. James now includes Rachel in his prayers. When I ask him to point to the person he wants to say the prayer, he will point and say "Baby"sometimes.

We have a swing, but sadly the swing part doesn't work, but the music and constellations do. So sometimes I just have to push it or have James push it too. She doesn't love the swing for longer than 10 minutes, by then she wants to be held.

I am madly in love with this little cutie. She seems to be growing more everyday and her chunky cheeks I just nibble on all the time. She has such a peaceful spirit about her and is always so happy. At 3 months she experienced all the Halloween excitement and dressing up. Rachel will be experiencing tons of firsts in the next few months. First snow, Christmas, Canada, Cold, etc.

Happy BUZZ Birthday

Our little man turned 2 years old in the beginning of November. All week long I pumped him up for his..........BIG BUZZ BIRTHDAY! We had the grill going outside and I made it as Toy Story themed as I could. We had a great turn out of lots and lots of friends and family members that love James! We ate at our own 'Pizza Planet', had blue and green streamers with a banner that read 'Ready to Play' and had all the Toy Story characters on it. There was a sign that read"'Happy Birthday Space Ranger James! We played a fun game of army search in the yard, put Toy Story stamps on their little hands, played pin the tail on Bulls Eye and then....... Unwrapped presents. At first daddy had to show James that it was okay to rip the paper off. James became a pro after unwrapping so many awesome gifts. I have never seen a kid get so many presents of one character. Almost every gift he unwrapped was A BUZZ LIGHTYEAR or something having to do with Toy Story. He had a Buzz costume to wear, from his Nana, but the day of we couldn't find it anywhere. So he wore his batman cape instead. Some others who attended dressed like characters. James even new I was Jessie, the rootin tootin cowgirl.This is how it went: Daddy:" Okay James unwrap another gift". Someone hands him a gift. He tears it open and sees the gift. James: "A BUZZ" James smiles his big happy smile. Daddy: "Go say thank you". James:" Dang Do" James walks over and gives the person a hug for his gift. Then he returned back to the circle for another gift and repeated the same thing over again and again.James was so spoiled with Buzz things and just gifts in general. I know he was in toy heaven. He got4 Buzz figures, 2 Buzz jets and everything else Buzz you can think of. I made him a crib sized Buzz blanket that has silk on one side (James favorite) and is pretty warm. I also made him the BYU cape. He loves BYU football, at least he thinks he does because his daddy pumps him up about it. Then I made him some Buzz pants and an ABC photo book that includes pictures of him and everything he's done and likes in the last year. When it got dark, we headed inside for a pinata( couldn't find a Buzz one, so settled with this superhero that I labeled as JN (James Nielson). All the kids got a good swing at it, while trying to avoid any injuries with their swinging. Then we sang to James. And he had his Buzz Light-year ice-cream cake. I made it out of ice-cream and brownies. Buzz was on top of the crater/planet with one of his Toy Story friends. And the rest was a blue sky with colorful stars. It was a hit and very yummy.James just stared at the candle and cake and didn't bust out any huge smile, but was so excited to blow out the candle. It was so funny because he was trying to blow them out, but he wasn't blowing hard enough, so he yanked my head down to help him out. Then he and his friends helped take the candles out and be the first tasters. Of course James grabbed Buzz off first.

We had a ton of fun with all of our friends and family and I know that James had a completely fun filled day. I just want to thank everyone for coming and wishing him Happy Birthday. You made his day so special and without a doubt, he loved your present. Here's some of the silly's who attended:

Rachel was all decked out in her tutu for the evening too, thanks for loving her too, she was being loved and held by everyone. We feel the love and love all of you for loving us too.

That evening was a late one. We gave him the Toy Story 3 movie and he had never seen it, so some friends stayed to watch it with us. By 11:00 he was still up and running around yelling out Buzz and playing with all his new toys. I had the honor of finally putting him to bed, so I put on his new Buzz jammies, he drank his milk from his new Buzz sippy cup, he crawled into bed under his warm Buzz blanket and he made sure that all of his Buzz's were right there tucked in next to him.

The funniest part was when I went into check on him before I went to bed. I tip toed across his floor and pulled the blanket a little more over him. All of a sudden he opens his eyes and says "BUZZ" and goes right back to sleep. It was hilarious, he must of been dreaming of BUZZ too. Maybe he's a little obsessed, do you think? To James: Happy 2nd Birthday Baby James, you are such an amazing boy. You make your mommy so proud and happy. You bring joy and excitement to my life everyday. I love watching you grow and seeing you make choices and watching your personality really blossom. You are so perfect for me and I am so blessed to be your mommy. Thank you for loving me back and for making me feel so needed and loved. My favorite word that you say is "Momma" and some of my favorite things that you do at this age is giving me kisses on the lips, cuddling with me at night and putting your arm around my neck and stroking my hair while I read you a book or sing to you and I love it when you insist to hold my hand through your crib in attempts to put you to sleep. I love when you grab my hand and take me some place. I love when you say your prayers with my help- your favorite part about it is to say AMEN. I love when you say thank you to other people when I don't even tell you to. I love seeing you with baby Rachel(when you don't know I am watching) and seeing you give her a kiss and covering her with a blanket or showing her pictures from a book. I love your little body and how you are so lean everywhere and then your tummy sticks out. I just adore your little talk and how you try so hard to communicate. I love that you love people and play well with kids. I love coming into your room after a nap and hearing mommy, mommy and then picking you up and you just wrapping your arms around my neck and not letting go. I could go on forever, there is just everything to love about you. Love, your one and only momma who adores you more and more everyday.