Preparation

Closets organized.

Toys picked up.

Fresh paint and everything in its place.

A 'For Sale' sign in the front yard.


Now all we need is the buyer. Everything has been prepared. Now we just need to be prepared to move and say goodbye when the time comes.

Easter

Easter this year was a wonderful day. It was a beautiful day filled with food, family, eggs and presents. The sun was shining and there was no wind. It was a great day to spend outside. James had fun with his new wagon and soccerball. It was nice to have both sets of grandparents here, and I managed to make my first holiday dinner. It came out pretty good!

First rides in the new wagon after his nap.

Here James is hunting for his eggs. He found two more the day after Easter, and was ready to eat the contents immediately.

James had fun outside in his Easter outfit.

I see a future soccer star in our midst!

Milk and Cookies

James was lucky enough too have his first oreo. He really enjoyed it. He seems to like oreos better than cake.

It was a lot of fun to dunk them in milk and fish out the pieces. It was also a good way to get him drinking some more milk. Now we just need to get him to drink it without cookies.

"Becoming part of the Kirby Family"

Yesterday afternoon the doorbell rang. I was a little surprised by it, and went and answered. It was a Kirby salesman offering to shampoo the carpet in one room. I am familiar with Kirby and how it works, and how expensive they can be. I figured that sure they could clean my carpet with no intention of buying one. I politely said sure, but I don't want to waste your time because I have no intention of purchasing one. I was told it was no problem.

So away he went with his demonstration. I wasn't sure how long it would take because I knew it could be lengthy. I figured an hour, maybe hour and a half. It took a little over two hours before he finally left. At the beginning of his demo he handed me the price sheet with different payment plan options. The cost is $3197.00. As he began his demonstration and showing how much dirt was left in my carpet after using my vacuum. He asked if I would be interested in one, and my response was, how much? He said check the paper. My bold response, was "that's not the price". He seemed somewhat taken aback, but not much. And told me that was the price. Again I said I know that it's not, how much? He consented that different arrangements could be made, and asked what I could pay. I said I could pay $200.

One weird thing in the demonstration was he asked to vacuum our mattress. I didn't allow him to, because I was uncomfortable with that. I didn't know that was part of the demo.

He continued the demonstration, and cleaned my carpet trying to me convince to buy one at different prices. As I told him, I know that Kirby's are good vacuums because my parents have one and have had it for years. (I found out 1989 when he showed me all of them to see which one.) I know I would use one, but couldn't afford to buy one at this time. They are a good vacuum, I don't doubt or deny that. He said they have a lifetime guarantee, and could give it to James. My response was I would rather spend that much money on his college education and not a vacuum. They really want you to join the "Kirby family" by the use of payments, which I said if we don't have the money we won't buy something. We don't like to live with payments. I did manage to get him down to $850.00, a definite improvement, but still too much. Once he had everything packed to leave he asked if he could use our restroom. Again, I had to say no. Thats just weird.

So, it wasted a couple of hours yesterday afternoon and I a have a cleaner living room rug. I'm not sure if I would do it again unless I was going to buy one since it took so long. But I was impressed with my haggling skills, since I knew I wasn't going to buy one, which I stated in the beginning. He also let me know as he was leaving that many people do change their mind and purchase one. I was no such person because I knew I didn't want to spend that money. What an afternoon.

Birthday fun!

It has been a year already! It has flown by, and our little baby is now one and no longer a little baby. He is becoming a toddler and little boy right before our eyes, and if we blink too much he has already changed.

It was wonderful to celebrate James' first birthday with our family and friends. It was nice to have the extra guests, even though the original reason they were home visiting was unfortunate. Therefore, James was spoiled with two parties this year. One big one and little gathering with the three of us on his actual birthday.

I made his cake and it didn't turn out too bad. It wasn't perfect, but it worked and tasted great!

James really enjoyed playing with his balloons. He is still enjoying them at our house.
James was more interested in the ribbons and paper than his gifts. He is now enjoying his new toys here at home.

Surprisingly, James is not a fan of cake. There must be something wrong with him. Both times he has had it, her hasn't wanted a bite. He also doesn't seem to like the feeling of frosting on his fingers. Fortunately, everyone else likes cake, so it didn't go to waste.

Aaron had a good time with James' new blocks.

Our little party at home.

It's been quite a year full of growth and changes. We are so happy and blessed to have such a wonderful son. We thank God for him daily. It'll be amazing to continue to see him grow into a little boy!

Shoes and Learning to Cook

Here's James with his new shoes trying to walk. His face says it all. He's not a fan of shoes, which is no surprise since he can't keep his socks on either. Eventually, he'll get used to them. It might be easier too as he becomes better at walking.

It's possible that James is a budding chef. He loves to be in the kitchen. He enjoys helping me cook, and has to be involved in all the process.

First we measure.

Then we cook and stir. He was making some stew in this pot. It contained some animals, a baseball, and a lid. Delicious!

When we're done he helps with the dishes. He will pull plates out one at a time and hand them to me.

I Can Walk!!

James can walk! He's taking more than just a couple of steps. This morning he was taking 5-6 steps, and this evening he doubled that. He also figured out how to climb into the dishwasher this morning, and then stand on the door to reach the items on the second shelf. He's going to be running and getting into even more things too soon.

Here he is practing his walking at the Legacy. He borrowed great-grandpa's walker for some assitance.

Look at him go!!

He's becoming a little boy too fast!

Cruising

Not too much new. Just thought you would like to see James on the move. Someday soon I'm sure that he won't be holding on anymore. Also, here are some of his latest babbles.

What's on the floor?

Last night we gave James a bath. He was a little wound up. Screaming, squealing, splashing, and just having a good old time. Eventually, all things must come to an end. We ended the bath to get ready for bed. Once he was dry I went to throw out diapers and get a drink while Jonathan was going to get him a new diaper and put him in his jammies.

James took off through the house naked with Jonathan following. James was really enjoy this freedom and crawling around as fast as he could. Jonathan paused to take some pictures of him. Then took a step and stepped into something wet, and asked, "What's on the floor? Did you spill some water?" Pretty sure that I hadn't spilt I turn and look and say, "No, I don't think so, and that's not water." James had urinated on the floor and then crawled through it and was putting his fingers in his mouth. I quick grabbed James to keep his hands out his mouth while Jonathan rinsed his foot and got a rag to wipe James off. The good thing is that this all happened on the kitchen floor, so the clean up was fast and easy.

Later, as I was looking at the pictures that Jonathan had taken it looked as though while he was snapping the camera is when James was leaving his mark on the floor. We'll see how soon it is before he gets to go through the house naked again!

La Cucaracha

After all of the fun and excitement of Christmas we are begining to get back to our normal routines, and are enjoying being back home. It was great to see family and friends. It was fun for us to watch everyone with James and to notice how much he grew and changed that week. He is becoming more and more steady as he stands with no hands.

Since we have been home he has had fun exploring and playing with all his toys. He discovered music and continues to "dance" constantly. He loves to dance to all the songs. Every now and then he will sway his head or hips to the music. He's starting to get brave enough to let go and dance, but I haven't caught that on camera yet.

(Please excuse our wild and crazy hair day. Although I think it adds to dance.)

We really enjoy watching him. It brings smiles to our faces each time!