Hello Again + Pics!

As the new year and my last trimester begin, I can’t help but be grateful for how awesome it’s been. I have my days when I’m uncomfortable, but it’s nothing compared to my first pregnancy (which really wasn’t bad either). 90% of the time, I somehow manage to sleep well, avoid aches and pains, and overall feel really good. There’s nothing that can be done about the waddling, but I’ve only got three months left (minus a few days). J

I feel accomplished this week, because I managed to give both James and Joseph haircuts with my very own clippers and new, sharp scissors. I’m so glad that James trusts me to cut his hair. This is about his 4^th haircut from me, and it turned out great! Joseph looks like a little boy, and it’s crazy how much hair I cut off of him. It’s his 3^rd since he turned 1. He actually laughed for the first half of the haircut. I wouldn’t know; I’ve never used clippers on my head!

Before I go into the last week, I want to share some of my New Year goals. I have a 12 for 2012, but I will just share a few that have already blessed my life.

1.      Drinking green smoothies. I realize that this puts me in the “weird health nut” category, but I am really loving these smoothies. I make them with spinach, fruit juice, frozen fruit, and bananas with some milk, since our water is a little gross. They are amazing! I’ve never been good at eating greens, but a big glass of smoothie every other day really makes me feel good, gives me more energy, and provides 4 servings of fruits/veggies. Joseph loves them too, and it makes me feel good that I can get him to eat spinach without his realizing it. J

2.      Spending more time outside. The weather here has been nice, and I’ve loved walking the green belt that we have near our house. We live close enough to a park that I’ve got no excuse not to go outside! It’s cold, but there is no ice or snow to slip on either.

James looked around for Internet for a while before finally deciding on Century Link (Qwest). They are the only ones who won’t charge an arm and a leg for setup, don’t require a contract for 6 or 12 months, and have a decent price for plain old internet when you don’t want phone and cable. We should have it soon.  If I’ve published this, then we probably already do!

This last week flew by, but in a different way than the last. We went out a little to two malls, one in Boise and one in Nampa. I’m not a big mall-goer, but it was good to see what stores were available. I used my Kohl’s gift card to get a cute nursing nightgown. I can’t wait to use it!

We walked the green belt one day, went to capitol, and went to BSU/the zoo. James has officially applied for grad school there.  It’s a nice campus. I’m always amazed by how old other campuses look compared to BYU-I.

James started his student teaching (a teacher work day) on Friday. School officially started on Monday, the 9^th. I’m excited for him. I loved student teaching, even though it was terrifying at first. It was a great experience for me.

I pulled out my sewing machine Friday afternoon while Joseph was sleeping to make a few repairs, etc. It’s not easy to do hems on baby clothes! I pulled through anyway and made Joseph a bag to keep his Legoes in that will attach to his Lego table. It was nice to do a little sewing, even though I ran into a multitude of problems.

We picked up Dad on Friday night at the Boise airport and went to Red Lobster for dinner. I think it’s been fifteen years since I ate there. Our gift cards were well-spent, needless to say. I love seafood.

Saturday, the boys went to Nampa’s three thrift stores (D.I., Goodwill, and Idaho Youth Ranch) in search of luggage for Dad. No luck there, but James ended up getting a bike so I can use the car while he’s at school. I stocked up on some things at Walmart that we were out of. Some things are cheaper there, some more expensive, and many about the same as Winco. Still, I think Winco will be my favorite place to shop. I always get through the checkout line fast, and I actually like to bag my own groceries. I never have to worry about leaving anything behind.

Saturday afternoon, James went to the library to use the internet. I relaxed a bit while Dad & Jojo took naps. I love peaceful afternoons when I have time to think.

We decided to celebrate James’s birthday a little early with cake and ice cream. I made chocolate pound cake (what else?) and got butter pecan ice cream. As for gifts, James is difficult to buy for! I never know what to get him. He’s one of those people that has everything, literally.

We won’t really see our neighbors much, but we definitely hear this one dog from the next complex over. I hate dogs. I’m never getting one. It barks in the middle of the night sometimes. Luckily, it’s not usually a bother. When it is, my opinion of dogs does not improve.

Joseph was so excited for Grandpa to come. He kept exclaiming, “Papa!” and giving him high fives. We have to be careful around that little guy, because he picks up on everything. We make sure to never mention cookies or ice cream, because he immediately wants some. He knows which bowl we use for popcorn and gets it out of the cupboard while the popcorn’s popping. He also knows how to do the puzzles that he got for Christmas and load bullets in a Nerf gun. It’s cute to watch.

This week was my first time every watching Star Trek. I like it. It’s about as cheesy as Star Wars, interesting, and has great theme music. The library has an awesome selection of movies and TV shows. Who needs cable?

We went to our ward (the Nampa 19^th) on Sunday. I love having church at 9:00. I’m usually up by 7:30 anyway, and I felt like I was wasting my morning before having church at 1:00. I like that Joseph can take his normal nap. He went to nursery just fine. I looked through the peephole and saw him eating his goldfish with all the other kids. What a cutie pie!

We spent Sunday afternoon on the phone talking to family: James’s, mine, and then Uncle Joe in Florida. It was great. I can’t wait to have Skype again, even though our webcam is lame.

Monday, Dad gave us a Christmas present by fixing the car. It had been leaking oil and needed a new gasket of sorts. The tire place said that it’d cost 120 or more dollars, but Dad was able to fix it for much less than that and in less time. I’m so glad that it was an easy thing to fix (for him, not for me, since I’d have no clue what was going on)!

Joseph and I took Dad back to the airport after lunch. Joseph slept in the car, which meant no nap once we got home. How does 45 minutes in the car make up for a two-hour nap? I’ll never know. Toddlers are just funny that way.

Here are some pics of the last week! Enjoy! :) Maybe I will post a belly pic when I get to 30 weeks. I feel huge, or at least bigger than last time. I guess that's pretty normal though, right?

He loves to wear Daddy's hat.

Monkeys!

The dishwasher is from the 70's. It works better
than any other dishwasher I've had!

What to do with all the space?

Food storage shelves, a necessity for every LDS home.

I love this room, because it's MINE.

(The egg carton is for my earrings.)