It won't be long

Until this boy is walking!!! Uncle Wade got him this push toy and he loves it! See him in action. Don't mind the mess in the house... I have been slacking big time.



And here he is attempting to take some steps on his own. He got a few in here and there but this was all we could document.

someone is taking over

Right before Dana's baby shower (July 16th) I discovered this...

We were so surprised! Not because we hadn't been trying, but because it only took us 2 months to get pregnant compared to 2 years with James. We didn't even have to do fertility treatments this time! The only downside to having it happen so fast was that I could not ski while we were in Montana. But that was just fine, especially since the weather was overcast most of the time we were there :) 

What a blessing. We are very excited for James to have a baby brother or sister (hopefully we will knew in a few weeks).  We had our first ultrasound yesterday and saw the heartbeat, which the tech said was very strong. Everything is looking good as far as the baby goes, so I thought I would put it on the blog.

Here is the little one. Looks like a shrimp! The ultrasound tech was so fun and took 3D images for us.

Now with every blessing there are challenges and sacrifices. I have been more tired and more sick than I was with James. That is a challenge with a busy 1 year old, but I can handle it. I am low in iron and have to take progesterone suppositories (did that with James too so no big deal). But the kicker this time is I have gestational diabetes!!!! Yes... I couldn't believe it. I don't have a huge sweet tooth (except for ice cream) and since I started feeling nauseous, sugar is the last thing on my list of things to eat. My family does have a history of it, so I guess I can blame it on my genes. I am a little nervous about what this might mean for the baby and my health during the pregnancy. My doctor is having me join a diabetes program through the hospital to teach me how to eat and manage the diabetes through the pregnancy. I am hoping that if I am really careful about my diet, than everything else will be fine. Luckily I have some self control. The only hard thing is with the sickness, carbs are my go to foods to settle my stomach... but hopefully that won't last much longer. Just a little challenge, but I will take it if it means having a healthy little one. I am so grateful my doctor tests for diabetes early in pregnancy and has been so on top of it with my health. She is amazing.

My due date in March 22nd, but since I will be having a c-section, it will be a little before than. 

Again... we are very excited and feel very blessed to have the opportunity to expand our little family. 

Montana

James and I went to Montana with Brooke and the kids. Haws was in Yosemite with the scouts, so we decided since he couldn't take the time off to do both that we would go while he was gone. We missed him a ton, but had fun hanging out with Brooke, her parents and the cousins. Here are some pics from the trip.

James and I both got sick before we headed home. (along with almost everyone else in the house!) This is James' sick boy face.

Had to put this picture in of Luke's awesome snot nose!

Joshua was the only one brave enough to hop in the cold lake with Bop Peter.

 James and Caroline spent a lot of time together playing and "learning" how to share.

 At the Farmers Market in Whitefish the boys were able to shoot the fire hose.

While Caroline and James hung out in the stroller. They look so excited about it don't they?

The trip was so much fun and I am so grateful to the Bendheims for having us. We love Montana!

St. George and Vegas

On James' first birthday we took off for our first real road trip with James. Some friends of ours from church put together a trip to St. George with a stop in Vegas on the way home. We were hoping Dana and Chase would be able to meet us for a couple of nights in Vegas, but since Dana is getting further along in her pregnancy with the twins, they decided against it.

James was awesome on the road trip! He only got a little fussy towards the end of the 7 hour drive in which he took 2 naps and we stopped only once.

He is getting good at drinking from a sippy cup, so that helped a lot. He had lots of snacks and books to keep him occupied.

We stayed in a gorgeous condo and we even got the master bedroom so that James could sleep in the huge walk in closet. Their were two couple with no kids, and a couple who had 2 older girls and a baby boy.

James and Tyson. Tyson is only 6 months old and almost the same size as James. In fact, he weighs more than James! He is a little stud.

The Severson's we so nice to remember it was James' birthday and got him a present. He loved the trucks.

I don't have any pictures from Haws' hike with all the adults at Zion's. They hiked the narrows while Jodie and I stayed behind with the babies. The hike was a tough one. I am glad I didn't try to attempt it with James. They had a ton of fun and were gone for 8 hours! Jodie and I were just a little bitter that we didn't get to go. We had fun swimming with the kids and doing some shopping, but I think we both would have liked to hike. Oh well... that is the way it goes once you have kids!

We got a babysitter (someones sister) to watch the babies while we went to Tulacan and saw The Little Mermaid. It probably would not have been my first choice, but it was pretty good. It was so hot though. 105 at 10pm is not fun... but we endured. 

The girls

Tulacan 

We went to Vegas Sat. Stayed at a residence inn since they have the living room and kitchen separate so we could separate ourselves for naps and night time. James loved taking the lids of the pans and banging them on the kitchen floor. He is easily entertained.

We swam, went out to eat, but barely went to the strip. Vegas is a whole new thing with a baby. This picture is suppose to show you how awesome the moon looked, but you can not even see it. 

There was a crazy monsoon while we were there. We were getting ready to head out and then all of a sudden there was lightening, thunder and pouring rain! The streets flooded so fast! It kind of spiced things up a bit though... and cleared out after 30 min. 

I would say the trip was a success! We came home on the 4th of July and went out to my parents house for a pool party with my family and the Matsen cousins. We were too wiped out for the fireworks show at Grandma's house, but got a pretty good show driving through my parents neighborhood since fireworks were legal this year. We took James home from the hospital on 4th of July last year.. so much has changed in a year!

1 YEAR OLD!!!!

I know it is a cliche about how fast time goes when you have kids... but it is so true!!! It does not feel like yesterday that we brought James home from the hospital... but it doesn't seem like a year ago. I remember everything about it. I know people say you forget about some of the labor, but I honestly don't. I remember how horrible back labor was, how wonderful it was when I finally gave in and got a epidural and the rush of adrenaline when I was having the c-section and saw James' face for the first time. I thought he was beautiful then, and he was. But he is even cuter now! (in my opinion). He has the cutest personality, although he can be a little strong willed at times (where did he get that from???) 

He goes in for his one year check up next week so I will add his stats in once I know them. He has gotten a lot taller and I think he has gained weight. We got a touch of a stomach bug when we got home from vacation, so I am hoping that has not caused him to lose weight since he is already on the lighter side.

Here is an update on the stats as of 7/10/11:
30inches (60%)

19.5lbs (10%)
45 1/2cm head circumference (25%)
So he is still tall and skinny with a smaller, but not too small head. I am not worried about the weight this time around. He has gotten his appetite back and eats a good amount. The Doc is not worried either, so that is good :)

It is getting harder to take pictures of this boy. He is a mover!

He looks so big to me in the picture! Slept like a champ on our trip.

This is what your shirts look like when you are getting 3 more teeth!

• Finally started crawling on his hands and knees, but still prefers the army crawl when he wants to get somewhere fast.
• "Furniture Surfs"... walking supported by furniture.
• Pointed at Haws and said "daddy"! Haws was so excited. I was too... but I have to be honest and say I am a little sad he hasn't said mommy to me yet. 
• He is obsessed with Haws. Not surprised since all of our nephews are the same way.
• He likes to pull things out of drawers, cupboards and book shelves. He tries to put things away, but doesn't quite have the hang of that.
• Organizes things like blocks and his food.
• Is getting 3 more teeth! That will make 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. I thought I was going to miss the gummy smile, but I love those teeth!
• Loves tossing balls over his head and loves his huge Teddy.
• Pushes things all over. Chairs, his high chair, his toys, whatever.
• Has stood a few times on his own. My mom told me he stood on the bed a few times while opening and shutting the shutters (loves to do that as well)
• Got a stomach bug.... threw up once and has had diarrhea for a few days. It is pretty messy. The weird thing is he acts totally fine. Kids are so deceiving.
• Is drinking whole milk and does OK with a sippy. Still gets a bottle in the morning and at night.
• Would rather drink from my water bottle than his sippy. He is good with straws.
• Plays patty cake and claps when others clap.

Buddies

Just wanted to post some pics of James and friends that we have taken recently.

James and his buddy Kaleb Leckey

 Blue eyed beauties! 

 Cousins Cambria and Grant. We babysit swap with Nicole and Ty so we get to see a lot of these kiddos!

 Move it! They are going to be good friends :)

 Baby Monte

 Cousins. I hate the pic of me... but love it of James and Caroline.

Our friend and neighbor Kyle

My client (and Haws' boss) gaveJames this bear for his birthday. It is HUGE... and he loves it.

LUAU

For the past couple of years, my parents have helped put on the singles ward Luau. It is a huge fundraiser for them and the show is awesome. We took James this year (last year when we went I was ready to pop!) and went with Grandmama and Pops (Haws' parents) and their friend Donna. It was a lot of fun! James loved it. And even though he got a little restless being in the same spot for 2 hours, he did great. Loved the drums and the lady dancers of course. He would put his hands up by his head and sway side to side. It was cute.

Brooke gave me this Hawaiian shirt as a baby gift and I am glad I was able to put it to use for this occasion. 

Haws was getting mad at me for cutting off the top of his head, this is his angry face. Notice how James is  holding up his fist as well... but he hasn't mastered daddy's angry face yet.