Next stop: Nyon

Last night we were invited by the Roundy's (a couple from the states) to come and hang out with them at the pool. So we spent the better part of the afternoon on a little trip to the town of Nyon (pronounced Knee-own). Nyon is a small city about 15 minutes outside of Geneva by train. The Roundy's came and picked us up at the train station and took us to the pool when we arrived.

James got to take his very first train ride, and I think that he rather enjoyed it. He was very interested in everything around him, including the scenery that seemed to just zip past us. Doesn't he look like a little man sitting there on the train?

James loved splishing and splashing in the kiddie pool. I think he may have even partaken of some of the water to ensure it was indeed liquid. The bigger pool was really the main attraction. As you can see, the pool seems to just flow right into the lake, set in front of the scenic French Alps. Where we were situated, the other side of the lake is France, not Switzerland.

James was a good little man the whole afternoon. I think that he was awake for about 5.5 hours and didnt have a single meltdown or fit. When we got home, he had dinner and went straight down for the night. He is such a good little fella.

Un nouveau parc pour James

We have arrived in Switzerland intact and with some measure of sanity, although Becky was teetering on the edge of psychotic break due primarily to a lack of sleep. James started off the journey as his usual curious self. However, as time ticked on, and the realization that he would be confined to a car seat for a considerable amount of time slowly set in, he began to protest, and protest he did. For the first time we were "those people" with the crying kid that wouldn't do anything to keep him quiet. Basically, we used the airplane as a public "Ferberizing" forum. After about two hours of flight, and multiple nursing episodes, James finally managed to fall asleep, and did so for about 5 hours (of a total 8.5 hour flight) He did so with some considerable help from his personal milk fountain. The three hour layover in London did not help with matters.

I should mention that instaed of bringing our stroller up to us at the gate after arriving in London, they (the airline) decided that they would treat it as baggage and sent it to the baggage claim. That meant that we got to tow our heavy carry ons, including a car seat, through endless corridors, pass through customs, claim the stroller, and wait for a bus to take us to our connecting terminal. James was a sport for most of the time, but about 15 minutes before the flight, he had a meltdown. The only thing that worked....you guessed it, the fountain. That knocked him out for the entire flight.

But since he hadn't gotten a good night sleep, he let us know his displeasure when we immediately stopped to open a bank account at the UBS (United Bank of Switzerland) branch in the airport.

We arrived, however, with no major problems. All of our bags arrived, we maintained our sanity, and we are looking forward to new adventures.

Speaking of which, James found a new park here in Geneva. It is almost as close as the park in Allen. We put him in his new Swiss swing, but I think he was a little sad that his friends Dougie and Elena weren't there.

All down and none to go!!!

That is right. I did it!!! I passed all four clep tests that I needed in one week. It is a miracle and I blame God for it cuz it certainly wasn't me. I have really not had the time to devote to studying as I should have for the tests but it all worked out in the end and I officially do not ever have to take U.S History I or II. Yea!!! Kudos to me!

Two down and two to go!

I offically have taken and passed two of the four CLEP tests that I need to get done before we fly out next week. I totally aced them! Now I do not have to take an extra English class and I do not have to take Biology!! I was actually a bit reluctant to take the Biology test as I have never taken a biology class in my life. But I thought, why not? It couldn't kill me and I can just study real hard and take it again in 6 months. Anyway, I went to Barnes & Noble and purchased the officail Biology CLEP study book ($36) and read it yesterday. That is the extent of my biology training and it worked out for me. I am sooo relieved to not have to take that class.
Now if I can only pass American History 1 on Friday and American History 2 next Monday then I will be set. I am currently reading a book to study up for those. I haven't had a history class since junior high or high school. Wish me luck or better yet pray really hard that I can pass. And just so this isn't the most horribly boring post you have ever read I am putting up this picture of James and his buddy Dougie. Dougie is 1 year and 2 days older than James. My friend Crystal and I were shopping for suits at Burlington Coat Factory (pretty much the only place to find cute church clothes for baby boys that aren't super expensive) and we saw these suits for $20. We both liked them so much that we each got one and Crystal took these pictures of the two of them in their matching suits a couple of Sundays ago. Don't they look so cute? I sure think so.

9 months 'n stuff

James turned 9 months old yesterday, (August 15). He is still growing but has slowed down considerably. This month he weighed in at 21 lbs. 4 oz. and he is 28 3/4 inches long. He is getting around a lot more as well. I can't leave him alone in a room at all without him getting into "trouble." Why do we even waste money on toys? He has a special knack for finding the tiniest speck of dust on an otherwise spotless floor. It is quite remarkable really. Even if he is all the way across the room from the speck of dirt, he will "army crawl" directly over to it. He is learning how to do so many new tricks. He can clap his hands and sometimes he even attempts to wave but we are still working on that.

He likes to brush his 5 (soon to be 7) little teeth. He is getting better at pulling up on things and even learned how to pull up in his crib with it at the lowest setting. He is a generally happy and smiley baby and likes to imitate sounds when he can. When we are running errands in the car he loves to make all sorts of different noises and sounds. It is his own talking practice time. And he is getting much better at saying, "mama". He is already good at saying, "dada". This is what happened when I let Bimmy "feed" himself. I'm not sure a single bite went into his mouth but he sure did have fun playing with his food. On a different note.... I got an A in my first college class (Business Law and Ethics) at TWU. (Did you expect anything else?) It was a five week course and so it was pretty intense. Lots of reading and research. But I made it through fine and next week I am taking 4 clep tests. Wish me luck! I am taking 2 classes this fall semester. Texas Government (required at Texas state schools) and Personal Financial Planning. I am confident that I will get As in those two classes as well. I will let you know. I am hoping to graduate either December 2009 or May 2010 depending on how much I can clep out of. Not too shabby considering I can only take 1 to 2 classes at a time.

On another different note... We are moving to Geneva, Switzerland in 11 days (we fly out Aug. 27th) and we have so much to do. We are getting things sold and packed but it just seems never ending. This move has been good for me to downsize a bunch of stuff that I have been keeping for no good reason. We just can't store everything. But there are a few items that I utterly refuse to part with and so we will be storing them. We just rented our storage unit today and we will start moving things into it on Tuesday of next week. We are also holding our first garage sell next Saturday. It will be combined with my two friends Crystal and Fiona. I am excited to see how we do. Anything I don't sell will be donated or taken to the dump. It does feel a bit liberating to get rid of some things after moving them so many times. We will keep you all up to date as the move gets closer but with Brian's mom and brother and my mom all coming into town to visit next week I can't promise much.

8 Month Pictures

Just keeping my promise to share some of the pictures that we had done of James when he was 8 months old. We also got some of the family while we were there. My goal is to convince Brian to do a family picture at least once a year. I sure hope I can accomplish that! Enjoy the pictures.
This one is for his uncle Jimmy! Doesn't he look like a little karoke singer here?
Aren't these two the most handsomest devels you have ever seen? This is one of his concentration faces. Can't you tell he is very determined to get something. He is totally focused. I think this is when he was determined to get to my purse. Silly Bimmy!

***Important*** Computer Help Needed!

So we are getting rid of our computer and getting a laptop to take with us for our stay in Geneva. Any recommendations? I am going to mainly be using it for communicating with people at home via skype, school/internet, blogging and photo editing/digital scraping.
My current complaints are just that my computer now is slow when I have Photoshop running. That is about it. I am really not too picky about the computer other than it has to run as fast as possible. That is all I care about really.
I have been very tentativly looking at getting a Mac as well so if any of you out there use one or have used one let me know what you thought and if you would ever use one again.
This is totally the type of purchase that I always overthink and never come up with a good enough answer on my own so I thought I would ask for a bit of advice and help on the subject. Please, please, please, put in your two cents about the matter. Any advice will help me. Thanks!

We Miss Wu!

Well, I am totally bummed. My baby sister Wu (Brittany) flew home today after being here for 8 whole days. I wish she could have stayed longer. Even Bimmy was upset. He woke up from his afternoon nap and was looking around all excited and then I told him that Aunt Wu had to go home and he stuck his little lip out and pouted for a couple of seconds. I just don't know how I can survive all by myself. Wu and I were going on nightly walks and I can't do that by myself. (Anyone out there interested in an evening walk?) Anyway, here are some pictures and such from her visit. Isn't she a hottie? Oh, and a special thanks to Wu's husband, Mike, for letting us steal her while he stayed in Provo and worked. Aren't they cute together?We pretty much went to the park every day even though it was scorching hot at 8 am. James just loves the park (can't you tell by the look on his face?) and it is an essential part of our daily routine. These next two pictures are to show off his growing hair! He has a few little whispy hairs that are long and people ask me if I will cut them and I say No way! That would totally offend the hair gods and we don't want to do that. Besides, we may need to do a comb over if he can't grow some more eventually. He still isn't so sure about going down the slide (he likes to army crawl up) so he insists on going down really slowly. James also got 2 new teeth while Wu was here. He now offically has 3 bottom teeth. And boy are they sharp! Here is his "I'm sad cuz I'm teething and it hurts face."And here is a gratuitous naked picture that I thought was super cute. James was trying to get away from me. He totally loves being naked and frolicking about the house before his bath. I guess I passed on my love of nakedness to him. Oops.Here he is after his bath trying to get away from me. I was trying to get him to make a fluffing sound with his lips for the camera but instead I ended up getting him to "run away" from me. I swear he was making the sound right before I got the camera but as soon as he saw the camera he just clammed right up. Typical.

Also, last Sunday we went to Lake Lavon to check out the "beach". It was fun and Bimmy loved the water and the dirt. It was super fun for him to play in the mud and it was fun for us to watch him have fun. The water was way warmer than I thought it would be so I hadn't brought a swim diaper for him but I will next time. His diaper was so full that it was kinda hard for him to really get around well. But those diapers sure do hold a lot of liquid. I was impressed. Here is some video of Bimmy having a "taste" of the water.

James has also been enjoying a few new tricks. He learned how to open the cupboards and unfortunately has pinched his tiny, fat fingers a couple of times. This is what I caught him doing the other day as I was bringing the groceries into the house. Notice how he has started pulling things out of the cupboard. Naughty little Bimmy! We are also trying lots of new (organic) foods. Mostly he likes the food but sometimes he doesn't and he lets us know. Notice the look of concern on his face as he realizes that avocado is on the menu.His least favorite food (so far) is avocados. Incidentally, avocado is the first food he ever had. Oh well. I will just keep giving it to him until he decides that he likes it. Muhuhaha! (That is my evil mommy laugh.) And here is his face after those first few bites. He just locked it up. He also spit some of it out. At least he likes bananas, sweet 'tatoes and rice cereal. I am going to introduce peaches this week. Here is Bimmy and Wu right before she left. We really miss her! But right after Wu left James decided to break out a new skill.

Yes. That is a video of Bimmy pulling himself up onto the furniture! I was so shocked that he could do that. I had put something there to keep it away from him and he just decided to go and get it anyway. Darn it! I will have to come up with a better hiding place for things than the couch. He also tried to commit baby suicide the next day. I went in after his nap and he had pulled himself up in his crib and was totally leaning out and about to fall on his huge baby head. I totally saw his life flash before my eyes. But I made it in time and Brian finished lowering the mattress all the way to the bottom. I really thought he could only pull up from a sitting position and not from his belly but I guess that is my mistake. Good thing it didn't cost Bimmy lots of hurt. It sure did scare me though. And Bimmy just laughed and thought he was so clever.
There are a few other tricks to share and more pictures (we went to the photo studio again) but that is for another day and time. I have to finish my Business Law class this week and the final is pretty intense so no promises before Thursday but after that I promise to show some more footage of James' new talents.