An Outing with Daddy

Thursday Carson didn't have school so we decided to take James here

He had a blast!

It was pretty crowded but we were able to see all that we wanted.  We saw turtles, penguins, sting rays, otters and gross creepy crawlies that I am sure glad do not reside in Utah!

James especially loved the sting rays!  We tried to get him in there to touch them, but they were just too deep for his little arms.  He kept reaching for them though and any time we'd walk past that area he'd reach for them :)  I was able to touch them, something I've never done before.

reaching for the sting rays

He also liked the penguins.  They were really active so he had lots to observe.  This is the first time I had seen penguins too!  They are pretty neat.

In the Otters Exhibit you could climb under and poke your head up in the middle of their exhibit (like they have at the zoo).  James was SO excited, he wanted to do it so bad! haha so we crawled under (which was somewhat difficult since it is made for small children)

in the exhibit with the otters

James had fun! Carson and I liked it too, but we both thought it was going to be more extravagant than it was.  It was still pretty cool though.

I Love the Park

Geez, with all this time I have I am so glad I'm able to blog!

Today James and I got together with some friends from the ward!  Her little boy is like two weeks younger than James and they are SO darn cute at church together crawling around on the floor together sharing toys, treats, and even binkies :)

We decided they were just too cute to not get them together outside of church where they could run around and we could all get to know each other better.  So with this beautiful weather we've been having, we planned a picnic at the park.  I think we'll do this more often :)  I LOVE being a stay-at-home mom!

A Day At The Zoo!

On Monday James went to the zoo for the first time!  And I hadn't been since high school where we had a day date activity so it had been a long time for me.  We went with Carson's Mom and sister, Courtney and her kids and Emily was off for Spring Break so she got to join us as well!

I think James liked the animals.  We would point them out and he would just stare.  This is pretty much what he looked like the whole time

looking at a giraffe

He LOVED the carousel ride!  I sat him down on his animal and while we were waiting for it to start he got so excited and just waved to everyone on the outside.  Then when it started, he quickly grabbed onto the pole with both hands and just sort didn't know what to think.

We also rode the train!  He enjoyed that as well :)  After the zoo, we went to Red Robin to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday. yum!

James went without any naps the whole day so he was pretty tired but he did great!  Just as soon as we got in the car to head home though, he crashed!  Poor little boy.  We had so much fun!

Can't Believe It!

I AM FINISHED WITH CLINICALS!!  bah, I can't believe it's finally here!

I was required to do 24 hrs/week of clinical work totaling 1500 hrs for the program and I did it!  Whew!

This has probably been the hardest part of my program but it has definitely been the most useful.  I have learned A LOT! For those of you who don't know how the clinical side works, I was practically working there for free.  I did exams on my own as any Technologist would but I just wouldn't get a paycheck...in fact, I would pay Weber ;)  I am now hired on PRN at the hospital, which allows me to pick up shifts.  So I don't have a schedule, I just help when needed which is great for me since my main concern now is spending time with James.

It has been hard being a mommy and juggling everything, especially clinicals.  But I am so grateful for family and friends who have helped watch James!  Now that it's over I'm afraid I'm going to get bored! :)  I'll have to take on a few new hobbies!

I still have about a week left of class work stuff that I just have to submit online and then my Boards which I will take some time in May.  So I will stay busy for a couple more months studying!

First Haircut

James has actually been needing a haircut for a while now.  Let's be honest, it was starting to look like a mullet. I kept saying, "We need to cut James' hair."  and Carson would adamantly protest.  So finally I said, nope, we're doing it, right now.  I just took our hair clippers and trimmed up the back and the edges (he also had some long pieces that hung over his ears).  It looks so much better now!  And I thought he'd freak out but he did really well.  He wiggled and whined a little and kept trying to grab the clippers but he did great! He looks like a little boy.  I think Carson misses the white trash look but oh well. :)

I forgot to take a "before" pic so this is the best I could find

During

After

Patty-Cake

Carson's mom watches James every Wednesday and in ONE day she taught him Patty-Cake!  I can't believe how much information he soaks in!  I love it! He even knows how to "roll it" haha.  Here's the video she sent us while we were at school and she was watching him.  Now he does Patty-Cake ALL the time!  It's too cute :)

9 Months

James turned 9 months old a few days ago!  We went to the doctor today for his checkup and he's a regular, thriving 9 month old!  He is 18 lbs (12%) and 28.5 in long (57%).  His weight percentile drastically went down but the doctor said that is common in breast fed babies and we will most likely see a spike around 2 yrs old.

This is what James has been doing the last few months:

• He has 2 teeth (finally) that came in around 8 months!
• He can feed himself with a spoon (this is a pretty messy task but we will let him be independent) :)
• Has decided he does not like sweet potatoes at all- and they used to be his favorite!
• He has been sitting up really well for a few months now
• He is not crawling quite yet, but definitely gets where he wants to go via rolling and now the "army crawl"
• Is more and more interested in what others are eating- he'll smack his lips and if he has a binky in, he'll spit it out and start smacking his lips (so cute!)
• Is talking more and more- sounds like "ba ba",  "ma ma", or "da da" (though we know he's unfortunately not referring to us quite yet) :)
• He loves to put things over his head, especially his burp cloth (which he LOVES).  He loves to play "peek-a-boo" by doing this as well- he'll sit there with it on his face and flap his arms until we notice and say, "Where's James?" then he'll pull it off and reveal a huge grin on his face
• He is becoming interested in other little ones-  At church one day there was a little (probably one month old) baby crying and James looked right at him and starting laughing hard.  Usually he's a little more friendly than that ;)
• He likes to copy sounds we make
• He is a true boy and laughs whenever someone belches 
• He loves it when we brush our teeth 
• He is waving now!
• He loves music and loves to join in when people are singing
• He likes to "gonk" (as we call it) heads with people     
• For some reason he gets so happy when it's time to take his fluoride! haha    
• He loves his binkies!  He loves them so much when we put him to bed he immediately swaps the one that is currently in his mouth out for one that is in his crib (we keep extras in there just in case we need to find one in the middle of the night if he fusses).     

We sure do love this boy!   Can't believe he's growing SO fast!                 

seeing the lights at Temple Square- don't mind
the white streak, it's just a crazy, dagger
snowflake :)