New Job

So as I've mentioned before, I was hired on by the hospital where I did my clinical rotations as prn (as needed).  They like to hire the senior students after they get their limited license to give them an opportunity to kind of start them off and use them to cover vacations and such.  This is usually a temporary thing because each year they do the same thing with the senior students so it pretty much just fizzles out and/or the students graduate and get other jobs elsewhere.

I figured I would just work as prn at the hospital until I stopped getting calls to come in and then I'd just quit and be strictly a stay at home mom. I was sort of bummed by this idea.  I wanted to be able to utilize my skills that I worked so hard to gain but was definitely not looking for a full time job, after all my main priority is to be at home with James.

Well, I recently had an opportunity drop in my lap!  I was offered a position with a clinic in Saratoga Springs working every Friday!  Perfect, one day a week.  I can do that!  And it works so perfect with us moving out there soon.  I will also be covering peoples vacations here and there at other affiliated clinics in Lehi and American Fork.

Last week I had my training.  It was Monday through Friday 8-5:30 (sometimes 6) every day, boy was that hard!  Props to moms who work full time, yikes!  Again, I am so grateful for my family who stepped in to help and were more than happy.  I was dreading the week beforehand, but it went so smoothly and James was so good for everyone.

This last Thursday was my first day on my own in the Lehi clinic.  I was filling in for someone who needed that day off.  It went so well!  And Friday was my first day at the Saratoga clinic.  Each clinic is sort of different.  The Saratoga office I will be doing a lot of Medical Assisting stuff so that is a bunch of new stuff that I feel pretty out of place on but I am picking it up.  It's actually fun being able to incorporate the MA stuff along with my Rad Tech stuff.   And I love the people I work with!  That definitely makes a difference.

I am grateful for this opportunity.  It was just what I needed.  It will be nice being able to mainly stay at home with James but to also be able to contribute in my field and stay up to date on it as well.

What James Has Been Up To

James is now 14 months old.  Jeez, that went fast.  I really feel that he has grown a lot not just physically but developmentally even since he turned one.  Sorry this will be long.  I have started writing the things he does down so I can remember them and since we use this blog as our journal, I am writing those things here as well.

His vocabulary has tripled.  He went from just pretty much knowing "ma ma" to now he says, "E-I-E-I-O (to Old McDonald...I guess that's not really a word, but it's something he says that we can understand what he means), "no no no no" (I guess we tell him "no" too much haha), and sometimes says "da da" (a lot of times he calls Carson "ma ma"...we are working on this :) ).

I have thought of teaching him a little sign language but have just been debating if I really think it's worth it.  About a month ago we were at the gardens at Thanksgiving Point with my family and my sister taught him how to sign "more" and he got it right away!  What a smart boy!  He has continued to do this so he knows one sign.  I may teach him more signs, we'll see.

He mimics us A TON!  It is so cute! The other day my dad was over and was talking to me about sprinklers.  He was talking about the kind that rotate and make a ch ch ch sound.  He made that sound while using his finger to describe the type he was talking about and James right away puts up his finger like it's a sprinkler and goes "ch ch ch".  Haha it was too cute!  He has also learned by watching us, to blow on his food to cool it down, hilarious.

It's crazy how much he understands.  He has learned to hold phones up to his ear, brush his hair, and while driving his little toy cars around, he makes a "vroom" noise.  He is also starting to make animal sounds.  He can say "Oo, oo" like a monkey and "ba ba" like a lamb only after mimicking us.  But it's funny, whenever he sees a duck he has a certain noise for it, it's almost like a growl and a quack all in one.  He does this without prompting.  And he does it very loudly in church sometimes when he sees the ducks in his book :)

The dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point

When we say, "Where is your foot?"  he'll point to his foot.  When we ask, "Where is your belly button?" he can find his belly button or if we ask where ours is, he will ours for us too.  But those are the only two body parts he knows right now.

He loves Oreos!...two seconds after this pic, he put his hands all over his face

He is not quite walking on his own yet though a couple of weeks ago he took three steps on his own because he was walking to his favorite cousin, Addie!  Here and there we will let go of him and he'll stand on his own for a minute but he soon realizes no one is holding onto him and he slowly lowers himself down to crawling...the little stinker.  He got a little car that he can ride/walk with for his birthday and he LOVES it!  He has gotten really good at maneuvering that thing around the house.  He'll use it to get where he wants and then will scale the walls.  He's definitely all over the place.

Hiking the Y - James' first hike

He has gotten really good at eating.  He'll eat just about anything we are eating, even meat (as long as it's not too tough of course).  He loves to share sub sandwiches with us.  He has an interesting palate.  He likes things that I would think most babies wouldn't such as pickles, olives, and avocados.  He absolutely LOVES bananas (definitely didn't get that from Dad).  He also drinks out of a straw.  I think he learned this one so early because we have camel back water bottles with the straw and he's always trying to copy us and drink from them.  Well, one day he just figured it out after accidentally getting some and choking on it :)  He now has the straw mastered as he can also drink from our fountain drinks.  One bad thing about that though is that he doesn't quite get the whole sippy cup thing.  He doesn't understand that he can drink from his sippy while standing or sitting, he just needs to tip his head back a little.  The only way he can really get a good drink from them is lying down.

Giving his cousin, Will a hug

Along with kisses, he has started giving hugs.  This is so sweet.  Sometimes they are big bear hugs...love it!  He is so snuggly.  He loves to sit on our lap in the rocking chair and rock while we sing to him.  He also loves sitting on our lap having us read to him.

Right now he has seven teeth, three on the bottom and four on the top.  Not sure if any more are making their appearance soon, can't see any.

He has such a fun personality.  He loves to dance.  He loves to clap.  Anytime people on TV or anywhere in public are clapping, James joins in.  He is so silly and will often pull funny faces.  He is obsessed with flushing the toilet right now and likes to watch it swirl.  Most of the time he is napping while I get ready for the day, but the times he is not is such a hassle.  He insists that he hangs out where I am so I have started getting ready out in the living room if he's awake so that I'm not fighting to keep him away from the toilet.  He loves to help around the house by vacuuming (really he likes to push the vacuum around) and watering the flowers (he likes to play in the water).

Look at that silly face

He is such a joy!  We are loving being parents!

Big News

We have big news!!...first of all, no, I am not pregnant.  That would be scary.

WE ARE BUILDING A HOUSE!

We have been looking into building or buying a house since December and have decided to build in Saratoga Springs!  We will be in a nice neighborhood with a beautiful view of Mt. Timpanogos and the lake below it.

It is a just over 3200 sq. ft. rambler style house with 1620 sq. ft. of it finished.  We will finish the basement later on down the road. Initially it will have 3 bedrooms and 2 and 1/2 baths with the potential to have 3 more bedrooms and 1 more bath downstairs.

This is further away from where Carson works but there are so many incentives to build out in Saratoga Springs and we are getting a great deal on the house itself so even though Carson's commute will be longer (about 35 min), we figure it is well worth it.  And hopefully the I-15 core project in Utah County will be done soon!

The beginnings...just a big hole in the ground: May 11th

The footings are poured: May 14th

Foundation is up! The back of the house: May 19th

Basement walls are up! Back of the house: May 26th

Front of the house, standing in the garage: May 26th

The Big One

As I have mentioned before, since finishing up school, I have been studying for my Radiology Boards.  My free time while James napped pretty much consisted of studying...boo.  Well, last Tuesday I took it.

This was a nasty test with 220 questions that took me 3 hours!  I felt pretty okay about how I was doing during it but of course wasn't completely confident.  Then at the end I was SO nervous to click the "done with test" button.  This test allowed me to view my score, it would come up on the screen as soon as I ended the test.  My trembling hand hovered over that button.  My heart was pounding.  I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer.  Then I clicked it and my score was brought up.....I PASSED!!! 

WHAT A RELIEF! Now I am officially a certified Radiology Technologist! I am just waiting for my license to come in the mail and you better believe I'm going to frame it!  :)  

I think I might have to get this shirt

...and this bumper sticker 

Mother's Day

This is technically my second Mother's Day as a mother but last year I was so new at it with James being only a month old, I was still trying to get into the "mother mode".

This year was much more rewarding.  James was a gem at church, well really the whole day.  It was the first Sunday in months we didn't have to take him out during sacrament, woohoo!  (this has definitely been a struggle for me).

As we were heading to our Sunday school class and Carson was finishing up some Executive Secretary stuff, we overheard the primary presidency telling our bishop that they didn't have any children today and had prepared a great lesson.  Carson quickly offered up James so they could still have nursery (that Carson...always looking out for other people).  They happily agreed to the offer! So at 13 months old, James went to nursery for the first time (they usually don't go to nursery until 18 months for those of you who don't know).  Yay for married-student wards haha!  There's another little boy in our ward that is James' age so they took him too.  It was SO nice to be able to listen to a full lesson.  It was a really good one too!

It's hard to see and turned because of how I took it on my phone, but this is a pic that James drew in nursery

look at those chubby hands!

Later in the evening we went over to my parents to eat dinner and celebrate with the fam.  It was such a nice, relaxing evening.

For Mother's Day Carson surprised me with some beautiful flowers Saturday evening and I got a long awaited Kitchen aid mixer for my birthday/Mother's Day!  I opened it last week for my birthday and have tested out making cookies and I am LOVING it!  James is scared of it, but what isn't he scared of?  Haha, he's a tender boy :)

Graduation

It's finally here...GRADUATION!  It seems like just yesterday I was looking at how long we have left thinking, we're never going to finish!  Our whole life together we've been "poor college students" and now we're thrown out into the "real world" :)  It's some-what surreal (and nerve racking).

Both our schools we attended (Carson- BYU and I- Weber State) happened to have our graduation on the same day! AND pretty much the same time!  There was NO WAY we were going to attend Carson's graduation in Provo then drive ALL the way up to Ogden for mine.  I just figured since Carson was graduating with his Masters then of course we would just attend his (I really didn't care all that much to walk and especially to go through the hassle of having to haul up to Ogden for it).  But we are grateful for a friend who happened to mention that she thought BYU allowed others to walk there with special permission.  So we definitely looked into it and it was TRUE!  All we had to do was fill out a survey and that was it!  I was able to borrow a blue cap and gown from a friend and was able to walk right after Carson in his Convocation this last Friday morning.  It was neat to celebrate that special day right by the side of the one I love most.

So what now?  Well, as I mentioned before here Carson was offered a full-time position for Anglepoint in Provo.  He has been working there since January part time and has really liked it so he accepted the full-time offer.  So now we're making the big bucks ;)  As for me, I'm loving being able to be a stay-at-home mom!  I also work PRN (as needed) at the hospital here and there which is nice to be able to keep up on my skills.  I guess I am actually not completely finished (boo).  I still have to take my Radiology Boards and am studying every chance I get (when James naps) so I can pass them.  I have it scheduled so it's crunch time!

It is so weird when we realize we have no more homework....EVER!  :)  (unless I decide to go back for more....but we're not thinking about that too much right now haha It's time for a break)

James at 1 yr.

I wanted to write a separate post from James' birthday about James at this age, what he is doing and his stats etc.

We haven't gone to the doctor yet for his year checkup but I took him in for an ear infection a week and a half ago and he was 20 lb and we measured him at home today and he's 29 in long.

James has become very busy in the last few months!  He is still not "officially" crawling like on hands and knees. He's still doing his army crawl, but he's pretty dang good at it and can really get hauling! :)  I would consider that crawling since he can get where he wants to.  I actually have seen him get up on his hands and knees and shuffle so he's capable, I guess he just prefers the army crawl.  He is now walking with assistance from us and furniture.  He's getting pretty brave with it too, starting to do it one handed.  With all this extra mobility, comes lots of bumps and bruises though which is so sad :( but I guess that comes with learning.

Here are a few other things he's doing or enjoys:

• He gives kisses
• He likes "Itsy Bitsy Spider"
• Loves to roll objects and chase them
• loves to play in the refrigerator and dishwasher
• loves toy cars and just about anything with wheels
• His ears are sensitive (they are ticklish)
• likes it when mommy and daddy kiss
• Holds phones up to his ear
• He can drink out of our Camel Back water bottles that have the straw
• He is super friendly and likes to wave at other little kids
• likes to take things out of their container and then put them back in again
• sneezes when he first gets in the sunlight pretty much every time (just like mommy)
• is starting to babble a lot, he even gets into his conversation with his hands
• is intrigued/scared at the same time of the ceiling fan
• for the longest time he would just put his hand out to point to things, but he now points with his finger
• loves to swing and slide down slides at the park