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. 

First Bike Ride

Last Saturday was a perfect day for a bike ride at the beach. We took James out for the first time in the iBert seat he got for Christmas. He loves it! He wanted that helmet off towards the end of the ride, but did really good. He just kicked back and sang as we rode along. I love having him in front of me so I can keep an eye on him :)

James' 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated James' first birthday a little early. We are going out of town on his real birthday (the 30th). We wanted to have a small, family party, so we thought it would be easiest to do it on Father's Day.

It was a fun day (although we missed all the other family members who don't live close) and everyone was more than generous to James. Thank you everyone for celebrating with us! We still plan to do something special for him on his real birthday.

I made these Monkey cupcakes. They were a little more work than I bargained for, but they we fun to make. I tried making the frosting the recipe called for and it was a flop! I am so glad I bought some canned frosting as a back up. I need a go-to chocolate frosting that works well for cupcakes.

The cousins helped James open his gifts.

I always laugh at James' facial expressions. When I saw this picture I was shocked that I make the some of the same ones!

Not sure about our singing skills. Looks like he is thinking "what did I get myself into with this group?"

The aftermath.

I forgot James' PJ's so he had to wear Caroline's. I think he makes a pretty cute girl :)

Caroline was in boy PJs. I loved the role reversal and the face she is making! Brooke put a bow in her hair just to make her look girly.

Here is a video of the action... It is long. As you can see... he was over it after a few bites.

Our Climber

A few random pictures of James' climbing abilities and a video of him climbing the stairs!

He is even faster than this by now!