December Memories ~

We had a great holiday season and loved every minute of it :) There was only one moment that wasn't too happy and that was James getting tubes in both ears and his adenoids out the Tuesday before Christmas! He was a trooper though and only took a half hour to calm down and be released then he slept the entire day and night! He was pretty out of it to say the least but the surgery went great and he recovered quickly! We are still having to put some antibiotics in his left ear b/c of some blockage but hopefully that will clear it up soon!

Even started a new family sport/hobby to do together! We went skiing for the first time as a family on New Years Eve day and built some awesome memories together and will keep it a tradition! I wasn't so sure I'd like it but I've turned a new leaf and am in love w/it and can't wait to go again! We got to go 2x's the week after Christmas so that was really cool! Poor James stayed home of course but he'll get to start in a couple years w/us! We also got to go caroling as a family at a nursing home w/some other families in our neighborhood and that was a very special thing to experience and it will also be our yearly tradition as a family! Here's to building new and keeping to old traditions for years to come!! Hope you all had a great and happy holiday season like we did, love you all!

Thanksgiving 2010

I know I know - I'm so 2 months ago but better now then never! Just a quick recap of our fun Turkey day celebration here in Logan! We were way excited to host it this year at our house for the second time - really loving it and hope we can do it more often! My family all came except my brother and his family couldn't make it b/c of work! So here are some fun highlights of the time we had together :)

As you can see there was pulling tubes w/the four wheelers in our backyard, snow forts, a homemade skating rink Brian built for the kiddo's, wrestling each other, a four wheeler trip over to Green Canyon and LOTS of playing games, shopping and eating! I didn't get any pic's of the awesome food but it was a success, even w/putting the stuffing together, cleaning and stuffing the bird at midnight the night before, thanks to mom, Brian and the whole clan pitching in! Built some fun memories! Oh and thanks to my sis and her hubby for breaking out the last 2 chocolate pies after a LONG drive here too! I was so busy doing my first homemade apple pie, the lemon merange pie, dad's holupchi (a polish dish), cleaning the house, getting beds and rooms put together, dealing w/sick kids I kinda didn't get to the last minute things but I have the BEST family ever and they helped me knock all the rest out in the wee hours of the morning! But let me tell you we had the best turkey and dressing ever b/c of slowly cooking it all night long and using some awesome fresh herbs it was delightful and so worth the long and tiring night :)

Annual Snowmobile Party!

Each year in the beginning of the snowmobile season we love to gather around w/our family and good friends to break in the new fleet of Snowmobiles, this year we didn't have new one's to save money but still wanted to have our party! So we did! Once again though our Brooky wasn't there b/c we had to switch weekends w/her daddy but she was there in spirit! We had a great turnout even though the weather didn't cooperate very well for us but we made the best of it and it wasn't too bad overall! We had a campfire for warmth, hay barrels to sit on, (which the government had to of course get involved b/c hay barrels are so dangerous, something about the hay not being certified or whatever who knows just their way of having control ALL the time. My poor husband can't ever catch a break when it comes to the government) yummy chili n cheese, soft bread sticks and delicious hot chocolate to warm our soul :) Thanks to all our loved one's who came and celebrated the start of our season w/us we love you all and are so blessed to have each of you in our life!

He was so comfy and cozy warm he just fell asleep in my arms for at least an hour!

Mommy and baby James!

Mama and her boys :)

The gruesome twosome!

There was a period of crazy wind and snow coming down but we survived!

They were loving the storm and hot chocolate, it's written all over their faces ;)

Awesome sunset out the back of our Bear Lake house!

This party was the week before Christmas! Now here's just a few random fun pics of our growing up way too fast baby James and his adorable cousin playing together :)

These two play really well together - let's hope it stays that way ;)

They even have the same expressions - they are so cute together :)

James - 9 Month Stats!

Weight: 20lbs 4oz   50th%

Height: 29 1/2"   85th%

Head: 16 3/4"   5th%

This ray of sunshine is exactly that in our home! We are so blessed to have him and that he is as healthy as can be! His personality comes out more and more as the weeks go on and he just keeps getting bigger and bigger! Our happy little boy has had ear infections the last few weeks but it sure hasn't slowed him down - he is one of the happiest sick babies I've seen or at least out of the kids we have! I can't believe he is almost a year old it is amazing to think how fast the time has gone by and it's not slowing down anytime soon either! Here are some milestone's he's accomplished and some of our favorite part's of his personalities we enjoy everyday and maybe some that aren't as enjoyable too ;-)!!!

• Army crawling all around the room now!
• Picking up everything off the floor and putting it in his mouth - I'm sweeping 5x's a day!
• Sit's up really well finally on his own - still timber's over once in a while but catches himself really well and can go from laying down to sitting up on his own now too!
• His favorite game to play is Peek-A-Boo! He'll pull the blankie over his face himself and pull it down, it's so cute!
• I'm now having to start to buy size 5 diapers for this chunk - yep I said 5!! They only go to size 6!
• He still won't take milk from the bottle but will drink Pedialyte from it at least! Slowly but surely we'll get there!! Mommy or James is in no big hurry anyway!
• He has 2 bottom teeth that are fully in now and is working on his third right now which is his upper right front tooth! 
• Just barely this week started dropping the 3rd nap in the evenings - he's a GREAT sleeper :)
• We started on yogurt and he LOVES it! He also gets to start eating ground up meat, not the biggest fan just yet!!
• He thinks it's funny to put his toes/feet in his mouth and suck on them! 
• Now is always wanting to play w/his brother's toys - so Spencer is really learning to share now!!
• His favorite toy's right now seem to be playing w/the cars on the car garage and the alphabet train!
• Had his first Halloween and Thanksgiving these last 2 mths! Now almost time for his first Christmas :)
• Still love's his binky and being swaddled when put to bed!
• Sat through his first movie (Tangled) the other day at the Theater he was so good the whole time!!
• His latest new trick is when I get him from his nap he'll pull his binky out and toss it into the crib all by himself b/c that's what I've done every time so he's caught on and knows his routine!
• Still a mama's boy but not 'too' much which is nice - but also loves his daddy too especially when he play's w/him and snuggles him!

Time to put up the front gate again, nice to have it down while it lasted!

See my two bottom teeth!

My scared look - what, he was gonna attack me w/all his fluffiness!

My sissy and brother love me LOTS, well brother is warming up to it slowly anyway!

What a difference 8 months makes!

1 week old @ Primary Children's Hospital

8 mths old at Grandpa Hirschi's house!

I was looking through pics of James when he was born and couldn't believe what a difference just 8 short months can really make in a baby's life! Everyday this month has got me thinking of so many things I'm thankful for and I always go back to the beginning of this year when our littlest guy was fighting for his life and our lives were turned upside down! I am so absolutely grateful for the blessings he has brought to us and our family, for his health, for strengthening my testimony of the savior and the gospel, the laughter he brings to our house and the smiles that light up a room - we love you baby boy and couldn't imagine our life w/out you!

Today he played catch w/his dad for the first time - it was the cutest thing in the world, I don't think I've seen an 8 mth old play catch before! He actually would toss the block back to his dad every time his dad tossed it to him, so great! He is also cutting his second tooth and it is going to break through the gum any day like tomorrow or the next day I'm willing to bet! He got his first tooth in October a little before Halloween I wish I would of wrote the day down but of course forgot :-S I can't believe the weight difference in these two pics either he is already 21 pounds I think (I'll know for sure at his 9mth checkup on Nov 29th) and at 1 wk he was only 7 pounds! He is growing like a weed! Well I just wanted to get a post up about being grateful before Thanksgiving came around, I'm hoping to do more then this one but you never know!! There's so much more I am thankful for so I am going to try super hard to post them before Thanksgiving :)

Halloween 2010

Here's our Turtle and our Tiger! The Tiger costume was so fun b/c it's what Brian wore around the same age as what Spencer is now and his mom made it for him so Spencer got to dress up in the same costume as his daddy when his daddy was his age and he LOVED that! If I ever get a pic of Brian in it I think I'll post it so we can see how much they look alike! We were missing Brooklynn this year since it was her daddy's year to have her but she had a great time w/him and after 3 costume changes she ended up a Southern Bell!!

Not too many dad's I know out there that could do this good of a job on a daughter's make-up and hair! She is very blessed :) He did it all and he seems very proud of it which he should be! He also said he caught her trying to sneak on the fake eyelashes the next morning, so cute! Here's some more pics of the boys!

We did our usual tradition and I made my oh so yummy homemade chili in a pumpkin w/scones for dinner and had some family over! Was so busy I didn't get any other pic's of everyone but hey at least we got the kids dressed up that's all that really matter's ;) It was another fun and successful night, I even attempted a new dessert I hadn't tried before and it was really good! It was a pumpkin dessert and definitely will be making that again - very festive! Earlier that day we had some fun w/the kids and comparing James in the same outfit I've put all my kiddo's in every Halloween starting w/Brooklynn almost 10 yrs ago! So below the pic on the computer screen is Spencer at the same time and age 2 yrs ago! What's your vote - do they look alike or not?!? Just some fun shot's I wanted to post! Hope you all had a great Halloween and I really can't believe Thanksgiving is now just 2 wks away, the time goes by way too fast!