Stairs and James Don't Mix

What happens when a 16-month-old boy tries going down the deck stairs all by himself? He makes it down the first step okay but then stumbles down the second. As a result, the momentum carries him forward and he flings around like a rag doll all the rest of the way down until he finally comes to a stop when his face hits the concrete at the bottom.

Go ahead and call me a bad mom. I was. We were on the deck planting tomatoes and I thought James was right next to me digging in the dirt. When I looked over I was horrified when I saw him heading toward the stairs. I yelled at him to stop, knowing perfectly well he has never obeyed that command before, but praying he would this time. He didn't. He took one look back at me and thought it was a game and rushed forward. I ran to him as fast as I could only to see the inevitable happen. I'm just grateful we don't have more stairs because I know it could have been so much worse (this came the day after his little cousin Coleman broke his collar bone--so I KNOW it could have been worse).

This picture doesn't do it justice. He had a huge blue and purple knot at the top of his head and bloody scrapes all down the side. I tried to clean it up and added some Neosporin to it (thus the shine). It always amazes me how fast kids heal. Today it's already looking better. He's still got a huge blue knot and a few bad cuts on his face and a few scraped up knuckles on his hands, but as you can see, he thoroughly enjoyed his yogurt this morning and is doing just fine.

Short from duct taping the bib to him, I'm at a loss as to how to keep a bib on this kid. He pulls it off as fast as I get it on.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today just so happens to be my mom's birthday. Oh, and it's also Brian's mom's birthday. What are the odds of that, huh? I think my mother-in-law is wonderful, but I'll let Brian pay tribute to his own mom and I'll stick to mine.

I like to think that I've always appreciated my mom. But I don't think I fully appreciated all that she sacrificed and did for us until I had James. The pregnancy alone made me appreciate her ten fold. I was so swollen and achey with just one in there, so I don't know how she handled it with two. It hurts just to think about it. A simple "thank you" doesn't even cut it.

James alone tires me out beyond belief. How my mom chased around three kids all under the age of three is mind boggling to me. I couldn't do it. I won't do it. I absolutely refuse to even consider it. So thank you, mom, for all the countless hours of sleep you no doubt went without.

Thank you for taking care of us back then and for continuing to take care of us now. We still need you now just as much as we did back then. We love you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Oh, and this little boy needs his grandma, so please visit soon!

Spring at Last

This week I've been feeling rather bummed. I've been trying to pinpoint it and am pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that nearly every member of my family is spending the entire week on the stunning western coast of PORTUGAL. I have been missing my family a ton lately so missing this vacation puts an extra sting in the fact that they're all having fun without us.

I hate missing family vacations.

What I hate even more is that 1) I couldn't justify spending money we don't have to go, 2) that we didn't have the money to go in the first place even though my husband is a freaking dentist, and 3) that by the time I realized how badly I wanted to go and was willing to fork over savings and Sky Miles to do it, it was too late. My passport had expired, and after working for a U.S. Congressman's office and hearing of other people's passport woes, I have absolutely zero faith in the U.S. State Department's ability to expedite passports even when you pay extra to have it done. So today I vow to get my passport renewed as soon as possible and to never miss a family vacation ever, ever, ever again.

My brightspot this week has been that after a long and colder winter than I ever thought possible this far south, spring has finally arrived in Knoxville. The popcorn is popping on the apricot tree (or whatever kind of tree it is) in front of our house and the joy it brings me makes that long winter worth it.

Here's a view from our front yard. Every house on the street has the same tree in their front yard and they are all blooming splendidly.

And the warmer weather means we can finally start playing outside more. No more trying to keep energetic little boys cooped up indoors. James and his cousin Coleman are good buddies. The other day Coleman came over and these two pounded out a little duet on the piano. I feel so lucky that James has had his cousins closeby since we've been in Knoxville and I am so sad that they're moving away soon.

Gladly

Last night as I was putting James to bed I sat in his rocking chair and sang to him, part of what I do every night. The song of the night was "Teach Me to Walk in the Light." At the end of the third verse when I got to "Gladly, Gladly, we'll walk in the light" James interrupted me with "Gledly?" and then kept on repeating "Gledly, gledly, gledly..." It was so cute but I was laughing so hard just because he always chooses the most random words to repeat. A few nights ago he was gibber-jabbering about something or other and Brian asked him "Are you speaking Chinese?" and James replied completely articulately "Chinese?" This morning when I got him up from his nap I discovered he had a dirty diaper to which I responded "Oh my goodness, James!" All day long he kept saying "Oh goodness!" Over the last few weeks he's learned to say "please" and I am loving it. The only problem is, now I don't know how to say no to him when he asks for something with a please attached. Usually it's "Up, pweez," but sometimes when it's "More, pweez" to a cookie I end up giving in even when I know I shouldn't because how can you say "no" to "Pweez?"

After I was done singing to James, I asked him for a kiss goodnight. He sat up, licked me on the cheek and then laid back down in my arms and repeated with a yawn "Gledly?" Not exactly a kiss, but close enough and I'll take it! So GLAD this boy is mine--even when he makes messes like this:

He was NOT happy I was taking his picture.

Countdown to nursery . . .

James had his 15 mos check-up this week (3 more months until nursery!). To celebrate, he (and I) came down with a nasty case of the stomach flu. Just as I was starting to pride myself on the fact that he's only been sick twice in his entire life (both times in Utah), he came down with the flu. Go figure. Anyway, to celebrate his 15 month existence, here are a few of his favorite things.

James LOVES hats. He loves to say "hat," he loves to hold them, loves to put them on other people, but he does not like to wear them himself. Oh, and he also adores his dad. Here's a shot of Brian being a good sport:

James also loves to "tickle, tickle." Usually when he wakes up from a nap, as soon as I pick him up he'll put his arms around me and say "tickle, tickle" and start tickling my neck. He and Brian get in tickle wars almost daily.
James is starting to really love animals. His favorites are dogs and cats but he also loves birds, which he calls "caws" (because whenever we see them I tell him that's the sound they make). We went to Gatlinburg the other day (so overrated, in my opinion) and James had a good time chasing the pigeons. He freaked out when they flew away though. It was a combo of hilarious and so sad--he'd crouch down, put his hands over his head, and scream at the top of his lungs. He put on quite the show and had a crowd watching him after awhile.

His last favorite thing is his mother, of course. As sad as it was to see him sick this week, I kinda liked that I was the only thing he wanted the whole week. Of course, I'd take him being healthy any day. One reason I love this picture (ignore my weirdo look) is because it's one of the few pics where I think James looks like a Candrian. No offense to the Richmans, who are all nice looking. I just look for every excuse to think James is more like my side of the family.

James' growing is slowing down. In the last 3 months he only gained a couple pounds (although I swear he's gained 10) and he's grown about an inch and a half. He's now in the 35th percentile for weight (also mind-blogging to me) but the 65th for height.

Deals, deals and more deals!

Growing up, my parents drilled into my brain that every penny counts, so I've always been incredibly, almost overly, cost-conscious. But since we moved to Tennessee and I am no longer "working," I have become almost obsessed with living as economically as we can. At BYU, my multi-millionare financial planning professor always told us "Live like a student for 10 years after you are a student and you'll live like a king the rest of your life." Now that I think of it, it may be 20 years, but I'm really, really hoping it was only 10.

Anyway, I almost never pay full price for anything, but the last couple months I've scored better deals than I knew possible. Here are a few of them that I am rather proud of . . .

Thanks to my amazing friend Kimberly for introducing me to the wonderful world of Amazon.com for diaper shopping. I didn't come away quite as good as she did, but I didn't do too shabby either:

1036 diapers and 2160 wipes (not all pictured here).

Paid less than $22 (no taxes, no shipping).

*(I accidentally bought a box of scented wipes, which I can't stand, so if anyone out there actually likes scented wipes, let me know!)

A couple of months ago I bought this (Don't read into it. I am definitely NOT pregnant--it was just too good of a deal to pass up in preparation for "someday") on Babies R Us's ebay site :

Double Jogging Stroller

Paid $12.99 (included free shipping).

Normally priced at around $189.

CVS items (laundry detergents, dish soaps, shower gel, toothpaste, make-up)
Actual cost: $44; Paid: .56-cents

Last month I decided to start playing the "CVS game" that you used to hear about on the news all the time when the first wave of the financial meltown hit our economy. You know, the ladies who shop at CVS or Walgreens and come away with hundreds of dollars of items for mere pennies? Well, I was skeptical of it at first. I just didn't see how it was possible, but a lady here in Knoxville explained it to me and encouraged me to give it a try. Now I am a believer. I have to admit that every time I get a deal like this I feel guilty at first, like I am robbing the place. Then for a second I feel super embarassed for being so dang cheap. But then I think "Sheesh! Who cares about all of that--I just got an awesome deal!" and I walk away with a smile on my face and embrace my inner thriftiness.

Last but not least, here's my favorite deal of all. The last few months, every time I looked at our near empty living room the thought kept crossing my mind that instead of getting furniture to fill it, I should really look into getting a piano. I play the piano a little and so does Brian, but I'm not a musical person by any means so I looked at craigslist a few times and never saw a deal I wanted and then forgot about it--forgot about it until a woman in my ward sent an email saying she had a FREE piano to give away. Email-addict me, who normally checks email 10 times a day (a leftover bad habit from my working days of sitting in front of a computer for 8-12 hours a day), I didn't check my email all morning and didn't email her until several hours after she sent out the offer. I thought there was no way we'd have a chance, but lo and behold, the next day she called me saying out of the tons of people who emailed her, she wanted me to have it. Wow. A FREE piano! It's super old (built in 1920) and kinda quirky looking, but as Brian continually reminds me, a piano is a piano and this one was free. It actually sounds really lovely and I think it's safe to say we've already enjoyed it. Here's James tickling the ivory. Whenever I start playing, he gets upset until I pull him up on the bench with me.

So there are a few of my good deals. If you've scored any good ones lately I'd love to hear about them!