James is 3!!

I am so proud of this little guy.

He is 3 and potty trained!

It wasn't the easiest thing, but like everyone said, "when he is ready, he's ready" and sure enough as I tried yet again, this time it clicked and he pretty much trained himself without me always on his case about it.

He is going to the bathroom by himself, dressing a number of times a day by himself and he is just super independent. He wants to do everything himself. He is a big guy now, he keeps on telling me.

And I completely agree, he is so big now. As I look at pictures just 6 months ago he has changes immensely.

 

One thing about James is that he is a super good boy. He never hit his terrible 2's and I just hope there are no terrible 3's. He makes really good choices and just is so worried about other people, especially his baby sister. He is her protector, and I love that he is always thinking about her. He always adds,"And baby too?"

 James is a very happy boy, unless he is tired. He is such a teaser too, and he really does have me rolling on the ground sometimes with what he says or does.

 I love how James is a total softy too with me. So many times if I am sitting or laying next to him he will just look at me and say "Mommy, I love you most!" and I know he means it so much. We often have Love You Wars where we tell each other how much we love each other and we always try to out Love each other. He's told me he loves me "the whole world and beyond". Almost everyday he will kiss me and just make me feel so special. I just treasure those moments where he stops for a second and realizes that I need to be told I am loved from him too.

He is my best friend and my complete buddy.

 I love how well mannered he is. He is very good at saying please and thank you. He is becoming a champ at cleaning up after himself and doing certain chores.

 Food is still only an after thought. He eats to survive, while Rachel eats all the time. Yet, if it's pizza, sweets or fruit he'll gobble it up.

 James never stops. He is such a busy body that is always going going going. There are only a few times that I have seen him fall asleep in the middle of building his mounds and forts of blankets and cushions, where he actually just falls asleep in the middle of it. That just tells you how busy he is. He has always loved books, and whenever we go to the library all he wants is Dinosaur books (and not the animated ones, the real ones)

 See even at the big dance party on main street during Fiesta days, he fell asleep on daddy's shoulders. And believe it or not, he was actually dancing just a few minutes before this.

 James and Rachel are great friends. If Rachel is not in the room, he always asks where Rachel is and she is usually sleeping. Some mornings I will wake up and hear noises coming from Rachel's room and sure enough, James has hopped into Rachel's bed and is just playing with her. He is such a good big brother and I totally trust him with her alone. He would never intentionally hurt her.

 He is awesome at eating by himself, even though he shovels it into his mouth at a rate to fast to swallow. It's as though he thinks it's going to disappear so he has to hurry. He does well with utensils most of the time. And he is still a total milk drinker. If he had it his way he would only drink milk for all meals, all day, every day.

 Outdoors is his favorite place to be. He's always in the backyard doing something. He is so curious and loves to collect treasures (rocks, sticks, etc). He is pure BOY!

He is very easy to entertain if you have stuff for him to do. But if you don't he WANTS something to do.

His favorite shows are Dinosaur Train and Diego.

 Hands down, his best friend is Grace. They play almost everyday with each other. They both love dinosaurs so much and have very similar interests. About 80% of the time they are best friends, while the other 20% they are worst enemies. They still don't share the greatest, but they are doing better then how it used to be. Almost every morning he wakes up and says "Play with Grace?"

Cousins are so much fun. He is blessed to have so many that love to be around him.

They love to rustle. But without a doubt.  James' favorite person to rustle with is Daddy.

James loves movie night, especially when friends come over, we make a fort and we eat popcorn.

He thinks he's so cool and so do all his friends.

He is a complete goof and has such an imagination. He is always talking to his toys and has them talking to each other. It is so entertaining to watch him play.

He's a total jabber box and loves to talk, especially on the phone. He'll go off and the person on the line will just listen and then he'll stop for a second and say, "You still there" and keep talking.

And even when he's bad, he's never really that bad.

I love this picture, just cause he knows he's in trouble while he's serving his time out...... But how could I really be that mad at him when his bum is just way to cute.

There are times where we have to be stern with James, just so that he will learn respect and understand what is right and wrong, but where Josh and I are kind of snickering behind his back because he is funny, manipulative or plain smart.

James is a pure joy to have in our family. We feel so blessed to have such a perfect little guy in our lives. Life would never be as enjoyable and wonderful without this cutie pie to wake up to, spend the whole day with and put to sleep.

Small moments, as well as big moments with in the long, yet so short 3 years are treasured with memories, pictures and thoughts of my growing boy who used to be just a small baby.

He is now 3 YEARS OLD, and such a big boy.

But he will always be my sweet baby James.

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always.

As long as eternity

My baby you'll be.

XOXOX

 

Happy Birthday Son

All my love to you James,

Mommy

Halloween was a WHOLE NEW WORLD for my little ones.......

This year James wanted to be a tiger, so I had to find characters for all of us to dress in themed costumes. So here you have it..... ALADDIN! Her is me, Jasmine, with my little tiger Rajah. Followed by Jafar, the most powerful  Genie in the world, and his side-kick Iago. Rachel and James made this whole Halloween experience so much fun.

This Halloween lasted a whole week and we loved every minute of it.
From decorating (even though I couldn't find all my decorations since they are in storage) with spider webs and home-made decor, to pumpkin carving with cousins, dressing up 3 times, trick of treating and eating way to much candy.

We had an awesome ward party with a chili cook-off and trunk or treat.

One reason I love  Spanish Fork is because of the little yearly fun things they do every year. They had main street trick or treating, where all the stores and businesses give candy out, scarecrows everywhere and some fun activities to do on the way. It's a pretty big deal with about 500 plus people trick or treating in the afternoon.

Even the fire department had a display. They took us into the ambulance truck and there was a mummy all covered up. James looked a little worried at first, until we explained to him what it really was.

 

Stopping off for popcorn. Kinda nice having something salty, rather then sweet.

                      This was our favorite scarecrows this year. Hands down, the potato heads win!

Rachel was the winner at the cake walk. Go girl, go!

Finally the big day came and I made a big deal out of it just by creating a new family tradition. Each Halloween morning I will make orange pumpkin shaped pancakes and the kids get to decorate them with fruit. They loved it and it and they were pretty much devoured.

                        

Then later on we went to Nana's house to show off our costumes. She went trick or treating with us to a few homes.

 James totally got it this year. He would slam on the door (kinda quietly) then he'd say "Tick or teet", followed by "Tank You" and smile. Then he was off to the next house.

As for Rachel she caught on too, she would just smile and everyone would comment on how cute she was. She held onto her trick or treat bag so tightly and would not let go even when it was getting pretty heavy.

Our kids looooove candy just a bit to much.
And my husband was such a great sport. I know he doesn't love dressing up, but I loved that he was more willing to then most years. It is just that it's much more fun for the kids and I when we are all decked out. I mean it's all about the kids right...... and I guess me!(Josh says I like Halloween more than the kids do, and that may be true. I just love Halloween, and I get so excited to dress up and plan for the big event).

We then met up with some really fun friends and ate some good grub at Pizza Factory.

Went Trick or Treating again cause James asked and then ended up going to our other friends Halloween party were there was awesome food and fun chit chat.

We won BEST COSTUME! That was exciting- $10 to Cold Stone.

Happy Halloween from my little tiger who ROARs all the time and my little Parrot who squawks A LOT.

Just had to add this picture, she likes dressing up in this kitty cat costume, so I took some pictures and this was my favorite.

 It's my little kitty with her prey (her favorite stuffed animal of all time).

I  know my kids wish Halloween was everyday of the year.

Free candy and the only day they can eat as much as they want (at least until we take it away).

James' Quotable and Notables

During nursery today James was watching a bunch of girls twirl around in their dresses and call each other princesses.

He looked at them and said "My mommy is a princess." Then he followed with".....and my daddy is awesome."

Whenever I grad something for James or ask him to get something for any one of us, he always adds "for baby too." It's like he doesn't want Rachel to feel left out. He is a super big brother. You can totally tell that Rachel thinks his brother is special, because he always wants to be doing what he is doing or she will even start trying to rustle with him.

The other day I was cleaning a really stinky and messy diaper of Rachel's. I look over at James and there he was bringing me a garbage bag to put the messy diaper in.....wwithout even being asked. That made me proud.

For a while James has been waking up at 7:00 sharp each morning and coming into our bedroom and wanting to lay with us. Of course that is just an hour to early for us so we let him. Yet, we don't sleep much because he moves around like a crazy guy with the wiggles. Well on two mornings last week he surprised us and made his own little bed with pillows and blankets next to our bed and let us sleep for at least an extra hour with no interruptions.

Today he actually dressed himself with no help what so ever. He got his shirt on the right way, yet his shorts were on backwards. He is a growing boy and really independent now. 

He is at the age now where he just helps himself to stuff in the fridge and doesn't even make a mess. He gets his own drink of water off the water dispenser on the fridge and he is a jabber box now days.

Today he found out that one of his favorite dogs, his Auntie Amber's dog had to get her leg amputated. I explained to him what that meant and why and he was so worried. He talked to Amber on the phone and just kept raising his 3 fingers and saying "3 legs Skeeter." He was so sad and concerned for the poor little doggy.

James' favorite new activity is making forts, and yes I am the one that taught him how to make them. Yet he has gone to a whole new level of pulling off every single blanket, sheet, pillow and stuffed animal off all the beds and dragging them to the spot he wants to make the fort. Last week I felt like I was cleaning after him continually, until I finally realized that it is ok and he is just being a total boy. Now I just let him do it and spare my time of making beds and cleaning continually all day. I just let him play and then he helps me clean it up for the rest of the day and than he's at it again the next day.

He has had such a tender heart lately. We will be doing something and he will just touch me or look at me and say "Mommy, I love you." And what makes it that much better is that it is not only a few times a day, but like 10 times a day. And he will even add, "I love you the most in the entire world. "
Oh bless this good little boys heart.

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Pink Party for our Pretty Princess

On August 4th last year this beauty was given to us.

She entered this life as a pure beautiful daughter of God that I am so happy God intrusted me with her, to raise her the best I know how and to love her as much as I can.

She truly is a gift and one I am so in love with.

She has grown way to fast in a year. She started walking and being more independent a week after her 1st birthday. She loves her food and prefers the real stuff now. She'll eat some baby food if I can squeeze it in. But most of the time she says"No way" in her own little squeaks.

Rachel defiantly has a very strong personality. She is so much different than our little guy.

She is a pure on girl in almost all ways. She let's us know if she wants something and many times if she doesn't get what she wants, she cries. When she sees shoes or hair accessories she tries to put them on. But she is a grabber of the bows and tries to rip them off her head when we go places and I want them on her. She is very sensitive. If someone says no she gets so sad and starts to cry. 

But along with sensitive she is very tough too with her brother. They get along so well and love to wrustle. James is pretty good at being gentle enough, but Rachel has sure had to toughen up in order to stay in the game. Rachel also loves wrustling with Daddy. She just laughs and laughs and laughs. Such a cute sound to the ears. She loves peek-a -boo and loves to clap her hands when she accomplishes something.   

Our little Roo is still a mommy's girl but has weaned herself off of me a lot more. She will go to most people now and be fine. She is still nursing like a champ. Even though she is one, I haven't even started thinking about ending it cause it is just so easy for both of us. She let's me know when she wants the goods though, by tugging on my shirt and putting her finger in her mouth. She is an awesome sleeper if she is in her bed. Yet, in the car or in my arms she is so active and will fight sleep at all costs.

HER PINK PARTY!!!

We had friends and family join us for her party up at one of our new favorite places, The Spanish Fork Reservoir. Many came for a BBQ, cake and some even went swimming.

Rachel had her first cake, but not her first taste of sweets. I was a lot more lenient since she was not my 1st child. She surprised me, I thought she'd dig in and eat it up like a little piggy, but she took her time and petted the cake a few times. Finally I had to give her a taste from my own finger and she still was such a girl and wasn't messy at all. I had to questions..... "Where is my Rachel?"

 

All in all Rachel had a ton of fun and so did everyone else.

And she is officially 1 years old.

Thanks to everyone for coming to support our little lady.
Sorry we didn't open gifts until the next morning, since the night got so late so fast and we were having to much fun down by the water.

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful gifts and just for loving Rachel. 

Unwrapping gifts was fun for her and she tugged at the paper but didn't totally understand the whole process. But don't you worry we had brother help us out and he knew exactly what to do.

Happy 1st Birthday Cutie Petutie!

We LOVE you so much.

Love MOMMY,DADDY

and

Brother JAMES