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.

Thanksgiving 2009

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday Nov. 21. Since it isn't a holiday here, Brian doesn't have the day off of work. I decided to host--what was I thinking?--and it turned out to be an awesome day! Of course, we missed family most but when we can't have family we still celebrate with the next best thing! Great friends!
This is a picture of the table just before we sat down. I made the turkey--yes, me!--and the stuffing (from scratch with fresh herbs) and the rolls and the gravy and the mashed potatoes and some sweet potatoes too! My friend Harmony made cranberry sause, green beans, a most amazing roquefort, pear and pine nut salad which I made for my family on Christmas and some awesome desserts.A close up of the turkey. It was my first time. I brined it and everything. It turned out quite awesome. The only unawesome thing about it was the price. I paid $83 (yes, dollars) for it. And it was only about 10 pounds. Still worth it!Here is my awesome stuffing. I bought 3 different kinds of bread about 4 days in advance and let them dry out before cubing and toasting them. It was the most yummy stuffing I have ever tasted! (I'm not much of a stuffing person and I was really eating this stuff).
A few of us chilling and snacking before dinner. In addition to having our super cool friends, the Roundys, over for dinner, we also had two missionaries and an investigator (who finally got baptized after 7 months of investigation)!The elders. Not sure why this picture is so small but I'm not worried enough to figure it out.Johnny-Lu.
Everyone at the table (except me). Everyone at the table (except Harmony).
The kids enjoyed a dessert of homemade cupcakes. They mostly enjoyed my chocolate frosting. It is super yummy! They got to frost the cupcakes themselves and put sprinkles on.
Can you tell which part of the cupcake James likes best? He could probably do without the cupcake and not even notice it was missing.
These are the desserts that the adults enjoyed. Classic pumpkin pie and a to-die-for pumpkin cheesecake! Harmony makes the best desserts!As y'all can plainly see, we had an awesome Thanksgiving celebration. And we have lots to be thankful for. This day really got me in the holiday mood. Can't wait to do it all again next year!

Photo shoot of the boys

In addition to birthday and Thanksgiving celebrations, we also had a photo shoot of both the boys done. This was for James' 2 years and J-L's 4 months. I think they turned out awesome. Here is a small sampling. I grouped them into the similar poses that we used. Don't you just love a naked baby? Look at those muscles!
And onto the next pose with a naked baby. Luscious!
Now for some clothes on pics.
And more. These were the first pics we took. We had just woken Johnny up from his nap to take these pictures. He was a bit groggy but still very obliging.
James was a ham. I had to bribe him with a bit of chocolate to get him to cooperate by the end. Can you tell which pictures have a cheekfull of chocolate? These pictures are what finally solidifed (for me) that James totally lookes like a Fila! Especially that picture in the middle where he isn't smiling.
I decided to go a bit more formal for his 2 year pics cuz why not? I think they turned out super cute!
Here he still has his tie on but he lost that pretty quickly. He didn't like it at all.
All the pics were taken in my living room (except for a few where James was on our balcony). I'm so glad Harmony will be here for a while longer so she can keep taking my kid's pictures! Isn't my she super talented? Thanks again, Harm!