Week by week 26

(December 20-26) This was an eventful week. And not just because of Christmas. James and I decorated Grandma Shelley's Christmas tree. James loved this activity. Johnny-Lu and James got lots of grandma and Daddy attention (mommy attention is normal so it doesn't count). And I got my hair cut! Voila! Here is my new do! I love it! I donated my hair to Locks of Love. Actually, if you go to the Aveda salon where I went they donate it for you. Even easier. My only stipulations for the haircut were that I wanted it short (to be able to donate) and that it had to grow out good (no mullet for me, thanks) since I refuse to pay the prices for a hair cut here. Oh, and it had to look good straight or curly. That is all. I think the stylist did a great job. It is so easy to do! There are a few self-portraits in this week's collage.
In addition to that mundane stuff we also had the great pleasure of Brian's sister coming in to town early (at our insistence) from Montana. It made for a fun time. James loved playing with his cousins and having older kids to follow around.
On Christmas eve we all sat around and ate (I made homemade chocolate mousse with real Swiss chocolate)! And we sang some Christmas songs together (which the kids loved). We also wrapped. In case you didn't know. I love to wrap presents! That is putting it very lightly. My mom and Brian's mom are both under strict instructions to not wrap any presents till I arrive. It is my thing. As long as they provide the supplies I will do the wrapping. It is a win/win situation. So on Christmas eve (between the two families) I think I wrapped about 150 presents. (My mom has 5 kids (4 married) and 9 grandkids and Brian's mom has 6 kids (5 married) and 13 grandkids so it all adds up)! And I also wrapped all of our presents and some for my sisters and Brian's sister and Brian's brother. It was my dream come true! But I was tired after it was all done. (Good thing I had all that chocolate mousse to give me energy)!
One of our traditions is to open a present on Christmas eve. James opened a present from Mommy and Daddy. It was a pack of Dr. Seuss books. He immediately demanded that Brian read! James and Max and Zoe enjoyed the stories. James loves Wacky Wednesday, Ten Apples Up On Top and Hop On Pop.
Oh and did you know that the cardboard rolls that are left over from wrapping paper are great toys for kids. James used his as a (you guessed it!) LEAFBLOWER! Here is our Christmas Eve collage.
On Christmas morning we got up at a normal hour. I was the first on to get up with Johnny because he still wasn't adjusted to the time zone. Then we were joined by Max and later by everyone else. We all got everything we wanted and even a few things we needed. It was a great Christmas and fun to be able to spend it with family.
Around noon we headed out to my parent's house for some more Christmas fun. James was much more into the present thing and ended up opening a few (like 5) presents under my parents tree while we weren't looking (none of them were for him). James got a "real" (toy) leafblower which he was pretty excited about. He was really excited about all his presents and wanted to try them all out. We had an awesome family Christmas dinner and only one of my sisters was missing (they moved a week before Christmas to San Diego). James also enjoys his cousins here too. He follows them around and they are very nice not to be bugged too much!
On the 26th we had a huge Gillespie family party (since most of them arrived that day). Only one of Brian's brothers was missing. It was lots of fun. Lots of good food (All the girls in Brian's family are great cooks)! And lots of fun! Brian slept over while I took the kids home (a little late) to bed. It was great to see everyone together! Family is what holidays are all about for me.
Can't wait to do it all again!

Week by week 25

(December 13-19) This is the week that we left for Utah. We started out lazy and got frantic as we packed everything up to take home with us. We always take all our souvenirs home to store them till we go back. We still seem to always bring more stuff back with us than we take.
We also decided to check out where "Pere Noel" (Santa) lives. Apparently he lives pretty close and has a house just across the border in France. We drove there on Saturday to meet some friends. When we got there it was snowing. James was excited about the snow. There were a LOT of other people there to see Santa's house too. Brian and Johnny inside the warm house.
Me and James in Santa's kitchen. There were lots of things cooking and lots of dirty dishes piled up.
This is the room where the elves make all the toys. There were a couple of trains going around the top of the room and James thought they were pretty cool.
Inside Santa's sleigh that was already loaded down with toys for good boys and girls.
The secret stash of presents.
My boys with the secret stash of presents.
They also had reindeer and Santa (he was sleeping in his bed). They showed where all the elves slept and ate and lived. It was super fun for James and it was his first real experience with Santa. I think he enjoyed himself. I know he enjoyed the snow again on the way out. We also spent some time having fun with our hair this week.
Where's James? He loves to play this game.
We played on the floor while mommy packed. It is so hard to decide what to bring and what to leave when there are kids involved. I always seem to overpack for the kids but I'm getting better every time.
On Tuesday we left for Utah and the kids actually did okay. I was shocked. I'm not saying that they slept much but Bimmy didn't have any major meltdowns and Johnny was an angel. We had to literally run to every one of our connections and we were the last people on the plane both times. We didn't even get a chance to go potty between flights let alone get food or drink. I was sooo glad when we made it.
Needless to say I only took a couple pictures when we first arrived. James was so happy to see his cousins and this is the only picture that I got of them together. They moved to San Diego a few days after we arrived but not before me and my sister, Pink, went and saw the newest Twilight movie. My sister was pretty irritated to discover (at the end of the movie) that it is a 4 part series. She has not read the books. We miss them lots. James and Lexi are great partners in crime. She does lots of bossing around and James loves to follow her around and obey. They played house (She was the mommy and he was the son) and princesses (he was the handsom prince and she was the princess). Here they are "decorating" (really ripping apart) my mom's Christmas tree.
I was a bit ambitious and thought that it would be a great idea to take James to see the lights the day after we arrived in Utah. We went.
James slept. We couldn't wake him up at all. Not even to see the temple or the Christus or the lights. Nothing. We left and took him home and got him changed and ready for bed and he didn't even open an eye. That is very weird for James. Brian and James both ended up getting sick. It turned out to be strep throat and so we finally got them on antibiotics on Friday. James strep was on his face (looked little little pink zits) but the antibiotics cleared it up and they were fine after a few days.
Also on Friday we went from my parents house to Brian's Mom's house. Uncle Trevor (Brian's brother) flew in that day and we all had fun just chilling that weekend. We got some babysitters and went and saw Avatar with both families (mine and Brian's). It was fun but like I said earlier, I didn't take many pictures. Don't worry, I got a little bit better as the trip went on. At least I got James and his Gramma!

Week by Week 24

(December 6-12). Brian got back from China on Tuesday. I got a lot of looks like these from Johnny-Lu while he was gone. I think he secretly thinks I'm cRazY! Luckily, I also get lots of these looks too! So I suppose that I am at least a crazy mom who is loved. We call this J-L's creamsicle outfit. James also gave me a few looks while daddy was gone. Luckily he also gave me a few of these looks too. In addition to going crazy without daddy, we worked on Johnny's beautiful physique. I love babies with a few rolls! They just look well-fed (he is). We did a bit of acrobatics. James loves to perform (anyone who is around him for a few seconds knows this). He is so darn cute when he says, "Mommy, watch 'dis" and then when he accomplishes something he says (very triumphantly), "did it!!" or "ta dump!" Good thing we got this couch used and only need it for another 18 months! It is constantly being abused. James also loves it when the baby wakes up. He loves climbing into his crib and laying next to him. He gets a real kick out of it. He loves Johnny so much that he even named his own baby (a boy doll he got for his birthday) Johnny-Lu! More acrobatics and the biggest reason that our children do not share a room yet. He can also climb easily in and out of the J-L's crib. We did a lot of chillin' while we waited for Daddy to return. James still is a great eater (most of the time) but he will tell you if he doesn't like something. He insists with sleeping at least one toy for every nap/bedtime. Sometimes he collects some more before he falls asleep. This is a classic example of James' bed. (He has also been pretty insistent about wearing only shorts around the house. He does not like getting dressed. Wonder who he gets that from?)
Johnny-Lu's beautiful smile! When Brian finally returned from Hong Kong we made him a cake to celebrate. And when I say a cake I mean a real cake. Not the classic "healthy" carrot cake that I make for James' birthday. We even made chocolate frosting. James loves to cook and now he is constantly asking for "recipe chocolate." He remembers. Can you tell he is a good cook? Here is our finished result! I'm pretty proud of myself for making a cake entirely from scratch. No cake mixes here. No frosting from the store. Just homemade goodness. James waiting for Daddy to come back from work so we could celebrate. Both kids really wanted to touch that cake! I had to move it far away from James and use mild threats to keep him away from it. Brian made it home and we celebrated!
Don't you wish your birthday cake was this cool? This is what 31 looks like! James was amazed.
High five when they all got blown out! James helped and, of course, he wanted to do it all over again!
I made Brian take a bunch of the leftover cake to the church to give to the missionaries (he had meetings that night). Good thing too cuz wow! It was rich! The best thing this week was Brian coming back. We aren't the same without him!

Week by week 23

(November 29-December 5). No pictures from this week. It was a dark week. Brian left us all alone to go to China for 5 days. We had a hard time. There was one night where I got about an hour of sleep between both boys waking up all night. It just about did me in. James just isn't the same good sleeper when Brian isn't around. He tries to wait up for him which just makes him more tired and he wakes up more which also makes him more tired and it just keeps going and going in a downward spiral. And Brian was gone on his birthday which made it even more sad. We celebrated later.

Week by week 22

(November 22-28) Not too much to report from this week. We were simply getting excited about going to visit family in Utah. The boys were happy and fun this week. As you can see.John-Luke loves Sophie the Giraffe and is often found chewing on her legs. She is great for teething babies and all non-toxic!
Johnny-Lu turned 5 months old this week! The time sure has flown by with number 2. I guess I'm just that much more busy. Don't you love those rolls?
And that happy face? He is such a happy baby and a true joy to have around! As is this one!The only real event of the week was a baptism at the church on Saturday night. Brian is the Ward Mission Leader and it is part of his job to schedule, plan and conduct the baptismal services. He did a great job and it was an awesome service. Here I am with Ilana (the lucky girl).Johnny-Lu came ready for bed since it was an evening service and after his bedtime.
James and me waiting for the whole night to start.It was a bit crazy with 2 kids by myself while Brian conducted but I got some help from some great sisters in the ward and it all worked out. We didn't even make a scene! James was very excited to watch the actual baptism. He was thinking it looked like lots of fun in the water.