We Spy Easter

 Easter was a blast this year with a two year old. He knew exactly what to do this time and there was no hesitations as to what where in those colored eggs. In preparation for this important, yet fun holiday we did a few things to make it exciting.

James helped me decorate and he was able to tell me which one was the letter "A" (that was a big deal).

Then he colored eggs and had one labeled for each member in the family. He did a great job decorating the window. Each morning he would get excited to see all the eggs and "what he had done".

One particular morning I gave him his favorite cereal, which is Rice Krispies currently (I think he likes them the best, only because of the cool box it comes in with all the cartoons on the back) and then I had other little breakfast things in the eggs for him to open. He would get so excited, even though it was only apples and Cheerios.

Oh, the joys of having little ones to enjoy the little things in life.

 Along with all the hype for Easter we got together with some friends for Family Home Evening and had a great time learning about Jesus' Resurection. He got to color Christ, the Tomb and the Rock. Then he was re-taught the great story of how Jesus died and came back to life. Then we sang, played and frosted Easter cookies. 

 

Each night for the rest of the week until Easter Sunday came we retold the story again with James putting Jesus in the tomb, having him act as the angels and moving the rock  and then having Jesus come alive again. 

We used the illustrated Scriptures. James always gets so worried and sad for Jesus when he see's him nailed to the cross. So we focused a lot on him rising from the dead and being alive right now. 

I hope he will always have the love for the scriptures that he does now.

During mid-week we went over to another friends house and had a block Easter Egg Hunt. There was a good 20 kids there and so many eggs. James went running and I just stood near him taking pictures. It was so fun watching him get all frantic as kids would just come and grab eggs in front of him. He loved spying the eggs and grabbing them and putting them in his camo Easter basket. 

 It was a fun mommy and kid Easter Egg hunt , James had tons of candy and little Miss Rach was the little Easter Bunny looking oh, so cute. She loved grabbing at the eggs and putting them in her mouth.

  James just kept on opening egg after egg  and placing more and more candy in his mouth. 

He was loving it too.

 Rachel , don't you worry- next year you'll get to actually taste plenty of  candy.

This year it was good enough just for you to look at all the colors.

And as for James, maybe it would be wise to take a little longer looking at your eggs, than eating everything you see.

This was our Happy Pre- Easter!
And it was so much fun hanging with my girl friends and kiddo's.

James and Rachel spied Easter a week before the actual events.

Laugh Attack

This little guy had the biggest laugh attack I have ever seen. 

  

I mean he laughs tons for a little guy. Especially when I spin him around or come after him and tickle him. 

Almost everyday he loves rustling with daddy and gets so excited and works daddy so hard, he is out of breath. 

But this day was hilarious. 

I was chasing him around and daddy was making dinosaur noises and both of us were coming from both ends.  

We would grab him and tackle him down. 

He would try to get away and run off (secretly hoping for us to come after him again).

James would do his little dinosaur rarrr back and seek for us to keep throwing him around.

He got so worked up, he was turning bright red and kept on saying " AGAIN, again!"

He was laughing uncontrollably. Daddy and I couldn't believe just how worked up he was, so of course we started laughing our heads off.

 Then he started drooling a bit, unable to hold in his emotions of excitement.

 He was definitely a sight to see.

James is our laughing machine. 

And man is it ever fun getting him going. 

He definalty does have a sense of humor and knows when things are funny .....

or even hysterical.

Thank You

I just want to say thank you to the one I care about the most. Josh is such a solid foundation to me. It is sad that sometimes I don't always show him just how much I love him. There are times I let little things bother me and than it becomes a disagreement. He has taught me so much about letting the little things roll and being happy no matter what. One of his greatest qualities is to just be happy. As many of us stress out on things that don't really matter, it is sad that at those moments we hurt the ones we love the most. I will try my hardest to focus more on how I can change, rather that on making a big deal out of things that won't even matter tomorrow. I am so glad we have the power to forgive and to be forgiven. Josh has had to be patient with me and has thankfully forgiven me of my silly comments or acts. Thank you Josh for teaching me how to be a better person and for the time you spend with me and our little ones. As finals are arriving, I am so proud of Josh and how dedicated he has been in studying and getting through each class. I know this is not easy, but he is doing it for our family. 

I love you babe!!

Her First Word......

......MOMMA!

Today I was in Rachel's room with Daddy adjusting her crib ( because now she pulls herself up to stand and if she would have became top heavy she could have seriously fallen out) and I heard Rachel babbling her baby talk and making her way into her room on her hands and knees. I could hear her kind of moan and grown and then suddenly she turns the corner and stops. She looks at me and clearly says "Momma". I had to question Josh to see if he heard what I heard and sure enough he said it was loud and clear that she had just said her first word. And how special did I feel that it was my favorite word my own child could say...... Momma. 

It was one of those proud mommy moments.   

She is defiantly a mommy's girl. I just love seeing how excited she gets when I enter a room or when I hold her. She is my little princess and I just love how happy she makes me. She is a pure light to our family.

Well, she is only 8 months old and I would usually say that it was probably just her mumbling baby talk, but this was clearer than ever and I am going to believe that my name was her first word. We will see if she says it again I guess. 

Rachel at 8 months

You are to die for.

Just looking at you makes me want to eat you up.

Holding you I have to be careful not to squeeze you to hard, as my love for you just wants to explode.

You  have learned so much this last month. 

You are CRAWLING like a big girl. 

You learned about a week before you turned 8 months. You were doing the army crawl for a while and then one day, with no help you learned how to do it on your own. You were a champ and got around so fast. It is crazy how much you want to pull yourself up now. You love to stand when someone helps you. I can already tell that you are going to be a big time mover, because already right now you are on the move. You seem to find me anywhere. All of a sudden I'll look down and there you are tugging at my pant leg with your adorable little smile and bright eyes, as if saying- "momma pick me up". 

You are a great sleeper. You sleep anywhere from 9 to 12 hours straight most night. You are still a big time nurser- which momma loves. I love how you yearn for me when you wake up and get so excited as I get ready to nurse that you start sucking your thumb and making little noises of joy. You still play with my hair a ton when nursing and you love holding my fingers too. Momma doesn't enjoy when you grab my chest and squeeze tight or bight me where it hurts with your bottom 2 teeth that have come through over a  month ago. 

You love most food and we know it because you always sigh "Mmmmm...." When you don't like something you do the opposite and make a disgusted look and spit it out. You love your oatmeal, mixed cereal and whole wheat cereal. You are still a fan of most vegetables, besides green beans and mixed vegetables. You love love fruit and crackers. You are amazing at picking up food with your fingers and feeding yourself. When we eat in front of you and you want it you grab for it, sometimes you get it, other times you get sad when we eat it up ourselves.

You are incredible at soothing yourself. You have never been a binky baby, but a total thumb sucker. When it is time to lay you down I place you on your blankey and you place that little thumb in your mouth and try to fight that you are tired or go right to sleep. You are not a cuddle bug, you have learned how to put yourself asleep and therefore love routine. If you do cry, you don't cry over 3 minutes usually and then you are out. You love sleeping with a blanket right close to your face, next to your thumb. You go to sleep around 8 and wake up around 7 , give or take a few hours, depending when you do go to bed (because mommy and daddy still have a life and are out doing stuff with you too).

Church is a struggle once you get tired. It is hard because it is right during nap time and you want your bed.

You have nap time usually around 10:00, sleep for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, wake for another 2 hours than another nap 2:00, sleep for another 2 hours usually than up again to play with daddy when he gets home from school. Daddy always talks about how beautiful you are and he loves showing you off.

Daddy tickles you like crazy and you squeal at the top of your lungs and laugh adorably. 

You are such a happy little baby and you have made having 2 kids fun and easier than I thought- time consuming, but worth it.  

You love your big brother so much. If you see him playing in his room , you crawl right over to him and love just being near him. I have watched you guys a number of times just looking at each other and laughing.

 James continues to give you kisses and says "Love you baby" on his own. When you wake up from a nap, James often times says "Momma- Baby" and heads on into your bedroom to get you. You start kicking your legs up and down and have the biggest smile on your face. You love people, especially your momma. 

You are a total Mommy's girl, and I love it. I hope and pray that we are tight and close as you grow up and always. 

You are adored by ME.......and Daddy.

I will always love you. 

I find myself more and more in love with you as each month passes. 

I am addicted

 To this little boy

To his smile

To staring at him

To watching him responds to things

To seeing how much he learns and remembers

 To his facial expressions and sillieness

To his cute little body

To his joy for life

 To cuddling with him

To kissing and hugging him

To praising him

To helping him

I am honestly and truly addicted to James Nielson.

He makes my heart race and whenever I think of him I get so excited and I find myself just staring at him so much and just hugging and loving this cute, sweet and kind little guy.

I am in complete love with him and I hope he knows it. 

Because I sure do show him everyday (all the hugs and kisses and time spent with him).

XOXOXOX 

Mommy

When I woke up this morning.........

It was still winter.

SNOW and COLD- not a good combination.

At least that is what the weather told me. 

It was conference morning and James wanted to go outside. Just as I opened the door to let him go play outside, there was a huge blanket of about 6 inches of snow on the ground. 

It made me sad.

I am in need of good, warm weather. I want to start going swimming with the kids,

 going for walks and playing at parks. Plus it just makes me extra happy when the weather is sunny and beaming. I really think James is getting to the point of discouragement when I don't allow him to go outside when he wants to (which is quite often), because of the worry that he will get sick. 

Well, while I got ready for Conference and company to come over for breakfast, I brought the snow to him once again. I filled the tub up with warm water and brought in bowls of snow. He loves snow, just not the idea of getting his fingers froze. He had all of his dinosaurs (his new obsession) in having a bath too. After about every 5 minutes, he would yell out "Momma, More Please!" Eventually the bath water became cold and it was time to have breakfast with friends and to try to listen to conference with half a dozen kids. 

Let's just say it wasn't to eventful, but it was great company and the kids seemed to have fun, along with yummy pancakes loaded with fruit and whip cream. 

Once the second session came on I had both my kids in bed and Josh and I actually got to listen to 3/4 of it in complete silence and tears because I was touched by Elder Richard G Scott and a speaker from the seventy. These were my favorite talks as they focused on family and raising children. I will defiantly go back and watch the others that I missed on DVR. I need this spiritual push. It always lifts me in ways that I need and reminds me of the ways in which I need to be better. I need to love more and teach with love and kindness, as well as through example.

Even though winter has been to long, we have still enjoyed ourselves inside. 

Here are a few fun things we have been up to.

 Learning our colors and the ABC's. So far we have only done A and B and it seems as though he can recognize these 2 letter, but never on demand (like most kids, right?). As you can see here, it was yellow day. James' favorite colors are red, blue and green and when asked what a color is, it is usually a pick between these three.

 Play-Dough is a huge hit. He plays with it for so long and stays very interested. Especially if he has his dinosaurs romping around in it. One of his good friends live downstairs and almost everyday he asks to play with Grace. They get along most of the time and have very similar interests.

We made some fun edible snowflakes.

We watch and feed his fish almost every other day.He loves to watch it swim up to its food and take a big bite.

Daddy's been to a number of BYU games with his buddies and us- supporting Jimmer in his last games playing for BYU.

James has been hanging out a ton with his cousins and Nana. We have visited Henderson, Nevada a few time and James and Rachel feels spoiled with how much attention they get from their awesome cousins, aunts and uncles.

Feeding ducks is fun if it were a bit warmer. He lasted for only a few minutes, we will for sure return when the weather is warmer.

Bath time is one of Rachel and James' favorite things to do in the morning. If James could, he would stay in there for hours. Rachel on the other hand loves to kick her feet and it doesn't bother her to have water poured on her head. I have a feeling we have another swimmer.

One of James favorite books to read (besides dino books) is "There's a Wocket in my Pocket" and " The Cat in the Hat". On Dr. Seuss Birthday James and I went on a date to Macy's. We decorated the Cat in the Hat cookies, read Dr. Seuss books and got to color and use stickers. We had a blast together.

We've had some family fun nights, movie nights, dinner nights and game nights. 

We are big time into our friends, we feel so blessed to have such fun and awesome people to hang out with and it's exciting to see our little ones get to know each other too.

We've created Dinosaur Caves and Forts, along with story time. We are creative and color a ton and make our own foamy dinosaurs (that he think are amazing).  His favorite movie presently is the Land Before Time.

Each day we watch Rachel learn new things and grow. James has been really good at learning that if he wants something baby has, he has to give her something else to replace it. James is still extra protective and sweet to his sister, most of the time.
Rachel loves playing with James' dinosaurs too. I really need to get some girly toys around this place. All we really have is boy toys. Oh well, it doesn't seem to bother her yet.

They are the funnest little ones to dance with and tickle. They laugh so much and their giggles are to die for.When I spin them around, Rach just grins her toothless little smile and James yells "again again" over and over again.
They are so much fun to have fun with.

James has been mesmerized with his growing T-Rex. It started this size and ended up to be larger than this cup. Thanks to the dollar store, this was pure entertainment for little James to watch.

We have found a trick in getting him to eat his vegetables and chicken. We ask him what dino's eat and he will say meat or trees and if we eat them like a dinosaur, he will mimic us and eat them up too, followed with Rarrr's. I guess us parents just do what ever it takes. And I am okay with that- I love acting like a dinosaur when I eat my food. But daddy is the most entertaining dinosaur to watch eat- James would agree.

Josh has been trucking through school and I have been sewing a bit more and playing around with the camera and photoshop. But they have taken a lot more time than I thought, it's all about learning how to use them and spending time doing it.

Being a mommy is priceless, worth every second and taking pictures freezes those little moments that pass by so quickly and you can never go back to. Creating  moments, creates memories and these are what we remember. 

We have had a complete blast together this winter doing tons of things......

But let's be honest- I am ready for Summer.

Just MOVE IT!

Here is our little munchkin on the move.

She loves crawling all over the place and does a great job at it.

She has been doing the army crawl for quite a while. But just on Monday it seemed she learned it over night. I didn't even help her at all with figuring it out. I thought..... she's going to be crawling and walking the rest of her life, let her be little for a while. Well despite that, she learned and is just moving moving moving. 

The sweetest thing is when I am doing something from a far distance and in a matter of seconds she is right there at my feet pulling on my leg and looking up at me just smiling or giving me the look of- pick me up mommy. These moments are coming so fast and it is just a matter of time before she will be walking. 

Why can't we just pause these moment? They are so precious and dear. 

This was today (Sunday) a few days later. Each day she just gets more and more movable and independent. 

I am so proud of you sweetheart, you are so big.

But I am also just wanting you to be my little baby for a little longer.

But I am in total understanding that you just want to 

"MOVE IT!"