Cake Wrecks

My sister, Sara got me hooked on this blog site called "Cake Wrecks." Honestly, if you are ever in need of a good laugh, this site is hysterical! I can't help but laugh at the humor of some of the weirdest looking cake decorations, along with their stories!

Here is the link to this awesome blog. Enjoy!!

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

He's mobile!...well almost.

Today James took his first steps toward a much larger world for him and a much crazier world for us. Well they may not have literally been steps, more like a crawling-lunges, but James had his heart set on reaching our TV remote that was 5 feet in front of him. We couldn't get James to crawl for anything else but once the remote was placed on the floor there was no stopping him.

Now we are not sure where James’ love for electronics started but we believe that Grandpa Boulter is to blame. As seen from this incriminating photo taken back in July, we believe that it was this first experience with grandpa’s fancy remote that corrupted him forever. In order to keep James from changing the channel while Spencer is watching Smallville we have provided James with his very own baby controller.

Over the past few weeks we have enjoyed watching James roll across the living room till he hits an object bigger then him. This movement has cause us little concern, as he whole body is still in direct contact with the floor at all times. However, within the past week James must have gotten bored in his crib during the night and has learned to pull himself up onto the crib rail. Imagine our shockwaking up one morning to a child who is no longer in the position in which we left him, but is smiling up at us from a kneeling position with an expression of “look what I can do now.” We thought this new surprise (which required us to lower the crib last week) would be the only excitement this month, it looks like its almost time to bring out the old baby gates.

Hey everybody!

Just wanted to let everyone know that there shouldn't be any more sad posts :) Its just been a difficult few days :)

I am looking forward to a FOUR DAY weekend :) Unheard of for me!! Spencer has a conference this weekend, so I don't work, friday through monday, and I am very excited about that!! Hopefully I'll be able to see some friends of mine that I have totally neglected for the past two months due to busy schedules! Very very exciting.

Hopefully in the next 20 minutes James and I will be off to the gym!

Frustration....

While I am excited about my little boy getting his first tooth, with each day I become more and more frustrated (and sore) when nursing. He has nursed like a champ for the most part, but a few weeks before his tooth started coming in, he would "gum me"( Bite me with no teeth) pretty consistantly. We got over that hump, and now he is full out biting me with his new tooth. It hurts so bad. I have tried scolding him, tapping him firmly on his nose, setting him down, walking away even when hes still hungry, coming back to it after 15 minutes, etc etc etc... The only times he will nurse really well is when he is sleepy, or just waking up. So we have gone from nuring 8 to 10 times a day, to 6 to 7 times a day. I really, really wanted to nurse him until december - its such a wonderful bond, and i have truly enjoyed the experience of the closeness of it. I am hoping that I can still reach that goal, but if I can't get the biting under control, I dont know. I hope the situation improves soon...

It bothers me when people say its my fault because I introduced the bottle so early (3 weeks), and James knows he can bite the bottle and not have the same response as he gets from me. But I HAD to give him the bottle. I had to go back to work people!!! Give me a break. Its so frustrating when people put in their two cents and make me feel like the bad guy at the same time. And people definitely seem to put in their two cents frequently these days.

Just thought I would vent my frustration...

Teeth

Little James is cutting his first tooth. Right up front on the bottom. He is just a little distressed about it, hes been such a good little boy! As soon as it completely comes in, you KNOW i'll have a picture posted :)

Sunday Pictures

Its been a little bit of a joke for awhile, that we really have no pictures of the three of us (aside from the day after James was born, and then one about a month and a half later with me in scrubs...) Today we changed that! Our neighbor Colleen took some pictures of us sitting outiside our home. They turned out so good! Enjoy!!

September 11 2001

In remembrance...My sister Sara was in downtown NYC when the terrorist attack struck. She met up as soon as she could with her husband, Sam, and together they walked across the 59th street bridge out of the city to get home, along with hundreds of thousands of people.

My brother, William, was a short distance away from the Pentagon when the terrorist attack struck there.

My thoughts are with the families of those who lost thier lives that day, as well as those who had to observe the horror of that day first-hand.

Drop-in child care

Yesterday I decided to stop by the recreation center where I work out to see about their child care. They take care of children starting at 6 months old. So I brought James in and he met Ms. Sharon and Ms. Josephine, and they decided to take him on a few weeks before he turned 6 months. I can't tell you how excited I was! I told them that I would be back tomorrow (today) to drop him off while I work out.

This morning at 11am, I presented James' foot to the front desk to be stamped with a happy little star stamp, and he was all signed in.
This was the first time I had left him with a someone besides a family member outside of our home, and it made me worry. But I took a deep breath and handed him over to Ms Sharon. He fussed a little bit, but they told me to "take care of myself and have a good time and not worry." Okay okay...so I left, and he screamed, and like the worry wort mother I am, I ran back into the day care center all worried, and Ms. Sharon just smiled (she has been doing daycare for over 20 years) and once again told me to relax and go have a good time.

I resigned myself to it, and had a GREAT workout. I mean sweating buckets - know i'm going to be sore tomorrow- great workout. 50 solid minutes of cardio and weights. I felt like a new woman! This is going to be a regular thing. Thanks to my brother William, who bought a 25 use child care pass for James for my birthday, and a 50 use pass from William and Spencer for me, I plan to go as much as I possibly can.

On another note, Homecoming at SVU is just a couple weeks away. I have a FABULOUS dress that I wore 3 years ago. Black satin, subtle sparkles and just gorgeous. Amazingly, I fit into it, and with some help we got it zipped up. I am DETERMINED to fit into that dress by October 11th, which is the day of the dance. Not just fit in it, but look stunning in it, and I'm almost there, especially now that I can go to the gym during the day!! I don't think I can begin to express how excited I am about this arrangement :)

Thank you wonderful Rec Center!!!!

Hurricane Hanna

I thought hurricanes only hit florida...well, apparently they hit virginia too. Welcome to Virginia Hannah!

Ahhhh September... Thus starts my favorite time of year. Autumn brings with it crisp, cool mornings, the smell of apples and cinnamon, beautiful colors on the trees, and a feeling of slowing down. I really began to have an appreciation for the fall when I was living in Buena Vista, VA going to school at SVU. The town is located pretty much in the middle of nowhere virginia, in the valley of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I remember waking up every morning in the fall to the sound of the train, and the smell of wood burning fires, and crisp mountain air. I loved it. It was so peaceful.

This October, Spencer, James and I will be going down to SVU for homecoming weekend, for 3 days of camping, some alumni fun, a little football and major fun had by all. It will be little James' first camping trip! We will be joining 3 other couples who we went to school with too. It is going to be a blast! It will be so nice to experience the slower pace and beautiful outdoors down there again.

James is now 5 1/2 months old. Can you believe it? He is SUCH a fun little boy. He rolls all over the floor now, and is starting to discover how to crawl. Its more like his strong little legs catapult him forward and his arms can't keep up yet. He has lots of different sounds too. He has just about mastered the sounds for "Mama". He sits really well with a little support, although he is WAY to busy to sit still for any period of time. He is eating solid food now twice a day. I think among his favorites are peaches, sweet potatoes and carrots. But the kid will eat just about anything. We can't believe how much he eats. A boy with a hollow leg already :)

My brother, William, had his 30th birthday this past sunday, the 31st. We all went to sacrament at the Oakton Ward (where my parents had been going almost since they joined the church in 1981!) and then a few hours later went to Lightfoot restraunt in Leesburg. The food was fabulous and so was the company. We all had a really good time, and William was grateful to have family there. Even James was a perfect little boy during the nice dinner. Granpie had him sitting on his lap the whole time teaching him bad habits - thats what grandparents are for :) James was fascinated by the glasses on the table, and constantly reached out for the one granpie was using.

My parents took Spencer and my picture at dinner, and we were shocked at how different we look compared to a year ago. More tired than anything else I guess!

Well the little boy just woke up, and I know he's hungry, so I best run along. I will update more as soon as I get a chance :)