Birthdays and Word of the Day

It had to happen and it did. And now it's over. Thank goodness. One year older and wiser . . . or something like that.

It was a good day complete with semi-sleeping in (James sleeping until almost 8, followed by two naps later in the day), Brian being post-call and therefore getting most of the day off, an awesome foot massage by a random Chinese man, lots of J-Crew from my siblings (they know me well), many phone calls from wonderful friends and family, dinner at my new favorite restaurant in Knoxville, finding out we're getting back every cent we paid in last year's taxes and then some, and lots of hugs (and a slobbery kiss) from my sweet little boy.

And just to make you smile, a picture of this darling child. I love, love, love this boy! He learns a new word just about every day but today's word is my favorite in awhile. Today he learned how to say "salsa." He takes a chip, asks for the salsa and then proceeds to dip it like a pro. Definitely my son.

James and 30

For waiting so long to get a single tooth, James is sure making up for lost time. He is currently getting eight teeth. EIGHT! Four have popped through and the other four are right behind them. I feel so bad for him because I know he's hurting big time and I don't blame him for his recent crankiness. I can't ever get a shot with his top teeth showing. But he looks like a little vampire sometimes. Ignore the dirty face, please.

I love the way this kid looks when he wakes up in the morning. You can make fun of us for using one of those halo-sleep sacks. Someone in our house is still afraid of putting blankets in his crib(hint: it's not me). I'm not sure James would be able to fall asleep without it though. In the mornings he'll often walk around wearing it like a cape.

Here he is with a ball he stole from church (I put it back this morning, don't worry).

This little tri-stacker toy is the best five bucks I ever spent. It entertains James (and any other kid that comes to our house) for hours. I got it on clearance at Marshalls and I wouldn't have given it a second glance if James hadn't kept reaching for it, but I'm glad I gave in because I'm not sure what we ever did without it.

Stacking blocks obviously requires serious concentration:

Lastly, I'm not normally one to advertise my birthday, because who does that? But tomorrow I hit the big 3-0. I go back and forth between wanting to cry and wanting to celebrate. I'll let you know what actually ends up happening (actually, if it's crying I'll probably keep it to myself). Why is getting older so hard/weird/uhg/dramatic/dreaded!?! I know it's an inevitable part of life but sometimes I wish we could hit a pause button if we'd like to stay a certain age for longer than is standard if we're happy with the way it is going. My late 20s have been good to me and I don't think staying in them longer is too much to ask!

So, happy Valentine's Day to everyone and happy birthday to Andrea, my favorite person in the whole wide world. I wish you could be here with me so we could turn this weird new age together.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

*I started this post almost a year ago and totally forgot about it until tonight when I was going through drafts of posts. Anyone else have any past-favorites to add to the list?


As soon as I start really liking a product, without fail the company that produces it will discontinue it almost immediately. Here are a few of those favorite things:

Blistex Spa Effects chapsticks (These were awesome. They came in a three-pack, blue, green, and yellow and all had a hint of eucaliptis and tropical fruit, but not cheap plastic-tasting fruit. Nothing but yummy goodness. I still have two of them and dread when they're gone).

Bath and Body Works daffodil fields lotion (Have you ever smelled a daffodil? They stink. Like really stink. But this lotion had the mildest, non-flowery smell and I loved it)

Loreal Shine Delice Coconut Craze lipstick (I'm a sucker for lip products. Probably because I feel like if I don't put anything on, I look like I just rolled out of bed. This shade was my favorite of all times. Loreal doesn't make any shine delice products any longer, but a few are still available on Ebay and Amazon--not this one unfortunately).

Pushing Daisies TV series (This was clever. So very clever. There was nothing else like it on TV. Although I do admit, the plot line could only go so far).

Arrested Development TV series. Funny, funny stuff. If you haven't watched it, you may not know what real humor is. Buster is my favorite.


These ones go way back . . .

Nabisco Quackers crackers. Although I was a goldfish crackers kid growing up, I remember these crackers being so much more flavorful and delicious. They came in cheddar and sour cream and chive and I ate them by the boxful.

PBMaxx cookies. These were square with a thick cookie layer, tons of peanut butter and covered in chocolate. I remember them only coming with 4 in a box and not lasting long at our house. My mom always hid them in a special lower snack cupboard behind our kitchen island and when I thought no one else was around I would sit behind the island and eat them in secret. All of them. And then instead of throwing the box away, I'd just leave it in the cupboard hoping no one would know it was me that ate them all. I'm not sure of the logic behind that one.

General Mills Ice Cream Cone Cereal. I just remember these being super fun to eat and super delicious. If I close my eyes I can still taste it.

Cookies and Creme Twix: There are rumors that this is back, but I have yet to see it in any store. Growing up, we lived just a couple blocks from a Dan's grocery store, so during the summers we would walk up almost daily and waste our money on something we didn't need. Like a whole box of twixes (back when they sold them in boxes) that I would devore all by myself.

Lifesaver Holes: I think these were short-lived. They were probably pointless, but I thought they were the coolest candy ever and I got so excited buying the little canister they came in. I'm having a harder and harder time even finding regular packs of lifesavers in stores these days.

Crystal Pepsi: This was a dumb thing to like. I didn't even like regular Pepsi and I still don't. I just remember these was possibly the first items I ever bought from a vending machine. Andrea and I used to get them in middle school and we thought they were the best things ever. We were such nerds.

Okay, here's a really random/funny one . . . Swan's Crossing: I'm proud to say I have never watched a soap opera in my life--unless you count this show. It was somewhat of a soap opera for kids, starring Sarah Michelle-Gellar and some other 90s teens stars. They do some random dance to a song called "Gotta Grow Up" in the intro that I just re-watched on youtube and totally remember thinking was the coolest. Ahhh, memories!

Please share your favorite things--I'd love to hear them!

14 Months (Almost)

I'm currently watching the State of the Union address. Is it just me or does the SOTU sound like a bigger load of crap every year?

So moving onto something more pleasant . . . 0ur little kiddo is almost 14 months old. He gets to be more of a rascal with every passing day, getting into all sorts of trouble and making us laugh with his constant craziness. He's quite the talker still. He can repeat almost anything we say to him and has totally grasped the concept that everything has a name and walks around pointing to things and saying "what's that?" He really gets into that at bedtime--he'll just start randomly pointing to things to stall. He's obsessed with cars and trucks and everywhere we go it's "caws, caws, caws" ("cars" with a Bostonian accent). He thinks pots and pans are named "hot" because everytime I cook with them I tell him they're hot and he can't touch them, so whenever I pull one out of the cupboard he points to it and tells me it's "hot." He just got into pointing to eyes and saying "eyes" which sounds more like "is." He's totally got a lisp which I personally think is the cutest thing I've ever heard. Oh how I love this boy and wish sometimes that I could freeze time and keep him this endearing forever!

Here's some recent pics. He looks so old in this picture I can hardly stand it (taken yesterday). He's all about opening drawers and playing with spatulas, spoons, etc. Although his number one favorite thing to play with is the broom. He'd pull it around the house all day long if I let him.

France and Lindsay (our best/totally-miss-them-more-than-anything dental school friends) gave him this outfit when he was born. I didn't think it would ever fit him but it fits perfectly now and is one of my favorites (probably because it makes me think of them whenever he wears it).


A few weeks ago we gave him a much needed first hair cut (MUCH needed)! The poor kid still doesn't have much hair but there is a thicker patch of hair on the very back of his head that was turning into an outright mullet. Since we live in the south we thought it was fitting to keep it this way for awhile but then I kind of got embarassed by it and made Brian cut it.



So this post isn't that exciting. I thought I had more pictures to share but it turns out I don't. And let's face it, Pres. Obama's address is so compelling I better get back to it. :)

Reality Mormons

For some reason, I am missing Richmond today. Not the city itself really, but my life there and all the friends we had. Maybe it's because it's Monday and every Monday all the student wives would get together and watch ABC's The Bachelor (don't judge--you know you watch it, too). I wasn't as into it as some of the girls, but I sure did enjoy having so many LDS girls live so dang close to me and if I had realized how drastically that was all going to change I'm sure I would have taken more advantage of it. Currently the nearest LDS "neighbor" lives about a 10 minute drive from us. Needless to say, I am sure missing these ladies! Can some of you please move to my neighborhood in Knoxville? I'd sure appreciate it.

(Kind of a weird picture I know, but this is the first one I found on my computer of a bunch of us. Here we are at the Dental Prom--I don't remember what it was officially called but that was Brian's name for it. I can't believe it was almost a year ago!)

But back to "The Bachelor" and the real reason I started this post. Did you know there is a Mormon Bachelor? No joke (it just started a couple weeks ago). There was also a Mormon Bachelorette who is now engaged to be married to the guy she chose on the "show" (it's an online version). I did something I shouldn't have last month and signed my sister up to be on it. The guy they chose to be the Bachelor looked hilarious and well, a sense of humor is one of the most important qualities in a guy, right? I thought Andrea would enjoy a date with him. She was mad at me for a couple of days but then got over it (thank goodness)! She agreed to do the show after one of the producers called and begged her to do it. So a few weeks ago she flew to southern California to go out with "The Mormon Bachelor." I'm not sure if there was a love connection made but she had fun and luckily doesn't hate me for getting her into it. To see Andrea's version of the date, go here. The Mormon Bachelor has 22 first dates. After those are over he chooses 8 ladies to have a second date with. They post a new video of the next date every day along with the Bachelor's commentary of how it went down.

Now I'm sucked into the show (partly because it's super awkward to watch, as dating usually is, and partly because I have no life).

Here's the link to the Mormon Bachelor site: http://www.themormonbachelor.com/.

Andrea was date #4 (she was actually his third date, so I don't know why they posted it fourth, but whatever). If you get hooked, too, I'm sorry! There's also a super funny kind of parody site that does an outsider's perspective on each date. Sometimes it's kind of mean, but sometimes it's hilarious. And let's be honest, it's Monday and we could all use a good laugh to start our week: http://www.realitymormon.blogspot.com/

That's all. Happy Monday to everyone!

Twilight Zone

Sometimes I think James and I are connected mentally somehow--at least during nap time. He's never been the best napper, although he is getting better. But without fail, after he's been sleeping for awhile I'll think "James has been asleep for awhile now--I'm glad he finally went down easily today" or "Wow, James is finally sleeping, and I'm actually getting things done. This is nice!" or "I just need him to sleep for 20 more minutes and then I'll get everything done I needed to today!" and WITHOUT FAIL, he will wake up within the next 30 seconds or so of me thinking that. Not even kidding. I've timed it. This happens almost daily. It's so weird. Whenever my mind starts drifting to one of those thoughts I try to contain it and think "Don't do it, don't think it! He'll wake up and you still have so much to do!" But by then it's too late and I usually hear him waking up. Not even kidding. It is so bizarre.

On an entirely different, although still creepy note, when my parents came for Christmas my mom brought me a bunch of old toys from when I was young. One particular toy I am in awe of. In awe that parents actually bought these things for their children! I ask you, how were these things EVER popular!?!

James loves walking around tickling our faces with the hair. Awesome.

See Ya 2010

I did a lot in 2010 . . .

Turned 29

(keep repeating "30 is cool, 30 is cool" and maybe I'll believe it before I turn it)

Quit my job to stay home with Jamers

(trying to come up with a term that's better than "stay at home mom"

--oh how I detest that phrase!)

Watched Brian graduate from dental school

(no more smurf blue scrubs!)

Sold our townhouse in Richmond

(truly nothing short of a miracle)

Had a wonderful trip to Disney World with the in-laws

(can we go back, please?)

Watched my little sister get married

(think John is the awesomist in-law ever)

Moved to Knoxville, Tennessee

(thought for sure we were moving to Chicago)

Bought a new house that we love

(anyone want to donate $1000 for new furniture? Our living room is empty)

New Ward/New way of life

(this is a big deal because our nearest mormon "neighbor" is 10 minutes away,

sooo not what we're used to)

Witnessed my little boy learn to crawl, walk, and talk

(life is both easier and harder all at once because of these things)

Flew by myself with James three times

(a big deal for me!)

Enjoyed FOUR visits from Andrea!

(what oh what would I do without her!?!)

Had the best Thanksgiving ever with my sisters

(sisters are the best!)

Experienced life in the South to the fullest

(fried food, anyone?)