Wow, my little monkey is 17 months old today!
He's LOVES his Kitty!
Being helpful like Grandpa.
Painting a picture for Isaiah.
The finished product.
Driving his four-wheeler (yes, he can drive it by himself)!
Just plain cute - scars and all!
All this talk about plastics, bottles, sippy cups, soothers, and all the rest of it is starting to get me really angry. What are we supposed to believe these days? We can choose to believe the people that we call "they". "They" say plastic cups and bottles with the recycle numbers 3, 6 and 7 should be thrown away. "They" say BPA can cause fertility problems and prostrate issues. "They" say latex and plastic soothers should be tossed. "They" say, and we do! This bothers me, because who are "they" and why do we believe everything that "they" say?!
Sometimes, when I am looking at James, or watching him play, or when he gives me one of his big goofy smiles I get tingles down my spine. I can't even fathom how much I love him some days. My heart is continuously melting over him. He's my sunshine. He's my miracle. He's my happiness. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed at my love for him, that I wonder how I could ever live without him - literally. Sometimes I get worried, and I end up on my knees, begging my Heavenly Father to keep a hedge of protection around him, and I pray for the blood of Jesus over him. Sometimes I can't even come up with words to describe how this little man makes me feel inside - like right now. He makes me want to sing, to shout, to smile, to laugh, to dance. He makes everything seem okay. He just makes me feel alive. He makes me believe even MORE in God. Having him is like having a little taste of Heaven on Earth.
Sadly, I did not capture one of James' "firsts" on camera today - but it sure was cute! He was outside for the first time in his rubber boots. As all boys are born with a natural inclination to be in water while wearing rubber boots, James was lead to the nearest puddle like a dog to a bone. He was very much enjoying this new adventure when suddenly he stepped into a part of the puddle that was much deeper than the rest. Wearing a pair of slip-ons I was unable to step into the water to aide him, and watched in despair (but mostly in amusement) as his boots filled up with water. This unfortunate event did not end there, as he immediately tried to run to me for comfort. However, being a novice in rubber boots, he was not able to lift his feet and tumbled backwards onto his bum into the water. He actually didn't scream as I thought he might, but rather just whimpered all the way back into the house. Once I reached the door though, I realized that he was whimpering to go BACK OUT. The cold water in his boots, soaking wet socks, pants and diaper didn't bother him in the least. All he wanted was back into that puddle! Well, I guess that will happen tomorrow. For now, his boots are drying on the vent and his pants and socks are in the dryer. I can't wipe the silly grin off my face as I think about this. I always knew that having a boy would be like this, but I never knew how fun it would be to see it unfolding before my eyes. My little baby boy just filled his boots with water... I couldn't be more happy!
I am in NO rush to get James out of his crib just yet. However, this weekend while we were visiting Toys 'R Us, James was playing around in a race car toddler bed they had set up. He seemed to really like it, and seeing him in it made me think that he could almost be ready for that transition. We had basically planned to put him right into a twin bed, with those guard rails you can buy. After seeing him in the toddler bed though, it made me think that maybe he should be in a toddler bed first. My brother and I were both in a twin bed by the time we were between 18 months and 2 years old. Others would definately say that a toddler bed is the better way to start, because it's easier for them to get in and out. If we buy a toddler bed, it means that we also have to buy another mattress and stuff, whereas if we put him in the twin bed we already have everything but the guard rails. Hum, hum, hum... what to do? I'd love to hear your opinions and experiences.
I think it was about 4 years ago, back in the days that I worked with Robin at Country Graphics, that we decided to start a woman's Bible study group. The way it happened was that I wanted to be in a Bible study, but it wasn't something that my hubby was interested in doing. I asked a few of the young couples groups if I could join, but they all felt that it would be a little strange if I was there without my spouse. I came to work one morning very upset about it, and Robin, who was in a similar situation, said jokingly "Well, why don't we just start our own group?". At first it seemed funny, as neither of us would have labeled ourselves as leaders - and particularly not in a spiritual manner. As we discussed the idea further, we decided it would be in our best interest to spend time praying about it. The more we prayed, the better the idea became. Eventually we found ourselves praying that God would bring a strong and dynamic group of women together, a group of women who were looking to grow in faith.
group was and is remembered to this day.
He has had a few other adventures recently too. One of these adventures happened at my mom's house. We popped in on her last week for an impromtu visit. James was running all over the house, so eventually we moved downstairs to play in the basement. We had been in the basement for almost a half hour when James suddenly spits something out onto the floor. It isn't entirely unusual for him to spit something out that he has found and put in his mouth, but it IS unusual when he spits out something that SPARKLES. There on the rug were my mom's diamond earrings! He had snatched them off her nightside table upstairs, and had them in his mouth for more than a half hour!
He also really enjoyed watching the women's World Curling Championships this past weekend. He doesn't really watch TV at all, even if I try to put something on for him. However, he really loved the curling - and gave us a good laugh when he started belting out "HARD", mimicking the ladies who were sweeping. He would also usually say "boom" after the rocks would hit.
Just to prove that this is not an April Fool's joke, here is the photo proof.
I'm having an emotional week dealing with the fact that my best friend Rebekah is leaving. For now it is only for a few months, but knowing her passion and her husband's passion for ministry, I am sort of assuming that it will eventually be a long-term goodbye.This song used to play at our house frequently when I was a little girl. I loved this song, and I still do! It makes me cry at the end!
I know it isn't officially James' sixteen month birthday, but I thought I'd post while I have time. If I based my post on todays events alone, you would not get a very pretty picture. Today James has gotten hurt so many times, I can't even count. In a span of about five minutes, the following scene took place: I was preparing lunch, and James was very unhappy (probably just hungry). He was trying to push me away from the counter while I was working, and bumped his head on the cupboard knob. Crying ensued, and then finally was resolved when he found his blankie on the floor. Crying stops. He then proceeded to slip on blankie, banging his forehead and chin on the floor. Crying ensued, I put a small bowl of very warm (not hot) soup onto the table for James, and then went to cuddle the injured soul. Crying stops. I go to the counter to get my soup when I hear screaming! I turn around to see James' hand covered in very warm soup. The bowl was still on the table, in it's proper position, but soup was dripping off the side of the table. I don't know if he actually reached the soup, or just banged the table, but none-the-less the damage was done. I pick him up, and run cool water over his hand. Crying stops. I call my mom to ask her what I should put 
on it, in the meantime spraying stain remover onto James sleeper that I had just removed. Within seconds, James pulls the Huggies diaper wipes out of his diaper bag, steps on the container, slips, and falls hard onto his bum. Crying then ensued... seriously, this was just a few minutes out of an entire morning of similar scenarios.
know "owl", "flower" and "turtle" the best. Yesterday he discovered a new box filled with various sizes and brands of batteries. I let him play with them while I did some things on the computer. Later, then I came back into the room, I noticed that he had pulled out all the Duracell D size batteries and lined them up. What a smartie! He also loves hide-and-seek and going for walks in his new John Deer wagon. He also now knows the word "yacka" which is "jacket". He LOVES going outside, in the car, or even just into the porch to visit Kitty. He will often come to me now with his jacket, saying "yacka, car, bye bye" when he wants to go out. He is a complete joy - and just gets more fun every single day.
James on the plane.
Tommy and I have a chat.
Beautiful, goofy Emily.
What could me more fun than a TUNNEL?!
James and Tommy share a basket. Could be brothers, no?
A cool pic by Ryan - Thomas at the end of a long, clear box.
The awesome Winnie the Pooh plane.There were a lot of funny stories from the weekend, but I'll share the funniest one. Ryan and I were back at our condo with James for the night. James was running around playing when Ryan let out a loud, raunchy fart. James looked up from whatever he was doing, and with a smile on his face he said, "BEEP!".
James is FINALLY completely over his Rotavirus infection. It took a couple of days for him to get back into the swing of things, but I now have my little boy back! It's been great. Not only that, but he has been eating incredibly well (although still mostly pureed baby foods). He must be trying to put that weight back on that he lost. Now I find myself overly protective, and not wanting to go out much because kids all over Manitoba seem to be getting sick! I don't want to go through that again!
scream if I tried to put him down! I was at a loss. Then I remembered the words of a dear friend during one of my rough times, "Heather, learn to 'roll with the punches' more". I decided I needed to do that, and so I let James stay up all morning with no nap. After lunch, just before 1pm I decided I would try to put him down. He fell asleep in about five minutes, and slept for two hours! I've done the same thing now for three days, and he's doing great with it! Not only that, but he is also sleeping a little longer in the morning, until almost 7:00am.
Today I had a chance to babysit Isaiah for an hour. Admittedly, I wanted to help out Rebekah, but I was nervous about how I would handle two very active, and very MOBILE little boys! They actually did really great once they realized that they would have to share or the toys would disappear. In the end they were actually playing well together, and I was even able to sit and relax on the floor while James showed Isaiah how to use our stereo.
WOW - James is fifteen months old today! I'm sure many of you moms out there with kids older than that will read this and think "I totally remember when (insert child's name here) was fifteen months!". You will be thinking that because it is such a FUN and interesting stage with tonnes of learning. He can walk, run, dance, clap, hide, sing, and talk. It is incredibly fun to sit and watch him learn. You can almost hear those little brain gears churning when he sets his mind to something. Yesterday he was kept busy with books. Sometimes he would sit down with one, and it would look like he was reading it. Other times, he would try to pile them up to make a tower, or stand them up on their sides along the table. It is so very cute to watch! He is also copying us more and more. I'll do something, and then later see him do the same thing and it reminds me how careful I have to be with my actions and speech! He already knows a lot of my dance moves... scary. He is also really starting to talk more too. He will often ask me to "hide... peek" these days. That means I have to hide behind the curtains until he comes to peek at me.
James is still not feeling too good. He only had one puke yesterday though, which happened at noon when I tried giving him baby cereal again. The rest of the day he drank little sips of pedialyte, and ate a little bit of a rice cracker. He only seems to want to drink if we give it to him in a syringe. I think he likes that because it seems fun. Anyway, he napped frequently through the day - and I think I watched more TV yesterday than I have for the last year! He seemed happy to just rest on me while we sat on the couch. In a way, it's sort of nice, and kind of cute - but I would take my busy, happy, healthy, energetic kid ANY DAY. His fever fluctuates, and can be anywhere from normal (36.5) to 38.5 at it's highest. I've been giving him Tylenol and Motrin, and that helps a lot.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope that today you get some extra love lavished on you - either from a loved one, a friend, or God Himself.
This weekend we had church at our local arena for a winter picnic. It was a great service, my favourite kind - one with lots of praise and worship songs, a skit by a Bible College troup, a short kid's story and then sharing time. I don't claim to be a person that has ever really felt the Holy Spirit moving me... but apparently He's working on me, and this weekend it happened very obviously. The mic was open for sharing, and before I knew it, my legs were making me stand, and my feet were walking me to the front of the crowd. I felt totally outside my own body. I had not intended on sharing - we had missed the previous Sunday after the miscarriage because I hadn't wanted to do the full explanation of it over and over again. I didn't even know what I was going to say... what I was SUPPOSED to say. I just said in my head, "Okay God, I hope You have something that You want to say - because I DON'T". Standing in front of the mic is not something I usually find very frightening. In fact, I actually enjoy public speaking. On Sunday, my hands were sweating and shaking. I probably looked a bit pale, because I was very literally scared. What on earth was I supposed to be sharing with these people?! Before I could think about it, my mouth began to move, and I heard my voice coming up with words, sentences - possibly even things that made sense. I shared about our miscarriage, and the vision that God gave me of our children on Jesus' lap. I told them that I have been asking God to give me Spiritual strength and wisdom, and that I hoped that I could use it to bless the church. It was emotional for me, and I cried. Pastor John came up, and asked Ryan and James to join us as he prayed for us. When I sat down, I could barely remember what I had said - truly, the Holy Spirit had spoken through me. It was amazing. Only then, I remembered that I had seen others in the crowd wiping tears. Later, people came to talk to me and ask me questions, and I was able to share more - and something I never believed could happen to me - I truly believed that I HAD SOMETHING SPECIAL I could share. I always thought my testimony was weak and meaningless. I believe now that God is using me, preparing me, molding me... and it's for something GREAT. I don't know what it is yet, but I can't WAIT to see!
James has a fairly noticeable "poop face", so I thought I might soon start putting him on the potty when I see him doing it. The only trouble is that I usually notice him doing it most often when we are playing in the basement, and there is no bathroom down there. I think I will get a little potty to use for this reason. Does anyone have any suggestions on which potty works best for boys? I've heard a lot of good reports about the Baby Bjorn potty chair, however it is a little pricey I think. Any other toilet training tips for boys are also welcome. I'm in no rush with it - just thought that since I can tell when he is going I might as well put him on the potty!
It has been a rough week, needless to say. I think I mentioned that last week Friday we took James to see the pediatrician because he had an ear infection. I then discovered at least two to three new molars coming through his gums, and possibly more! All this has made James a very clingy, unhappy little boy. Then, on Monday night while playing in the basement, he started to cry very hard - and just flopped down on the floor and wouldn't walk. He would try to get up, but just flop down and cry. He eventually started to walk a little more, but he would limp, and then his legs would buckle, and he would fall down again. It was heart-wrenching to watch, but we couldn't see anything that would indicate an injury, or splinter or anything. On Tuesday morning he was walking a little bit more, but we were worried so we decided to take him in again. The wait was especially long, and James was NOT happy to wait. Plus, we couldn't let him just run around because he kept limping and falling! Finally we got in to see the Dr., and she also couldn't see anything serious. She told us to keep an eye on it, and let him walk as much as he wanted to. Today he seems much better, but still has moments where he has a slight limp. I think he might have just stepped on a toy, and bruised the bottom of his foot.
So, what does any of this have to do with being pampered? Well, my mother-in-law knows me pretty well. She knows that I need to take it easy and relax, but that I find it very hard to ignore household chores. I've actually been ignoring them pretty well, but she decided to bless me in a very special way - she hired her cleaning lady to come to my place once a week for a month! She came today for the first time, and I have to say it is amazing how great it feels to come into your house and it is entirely cleaned! I am SO pumped, and feel so very blessed to have one less thing to think about for a few weeks. I just hope I don't get too used to it.
