Fun in Omaha!!

This weekend we took our very first family vacation. We thought since it was our first that we wouldn't go very far in case James had a major melt down!! So we packed up and left Saturday morning. The car ride down went pretty well that is once James fell asleep but he was a real trooper. When we got to Omaha went check into the hotel which James LOVED by the way, we than took James to the Children's Museum which James had a blast at. Clifford the big red dog was there and they had a life size play ground of Clifford's back yard that James played in. James was not at all interested in meeting Clifford he was more interested  in playing and running around!! It was really nice because this children's museum had a area for every age group and once we found the area for James' age group he played hard, I mean he threw a HUGE fit when we had to leave but the museum was closing and we had to go, but try explaining that to a 11 month old :) We than tried to find a place to eat for supper and James played so hard that he fell asleep in the car with a cookie in his hand, which if you have ever met my child you know that this is VERY rare!! Dinner did not end up going very well since James was super tired we ended up getting it to go and we all headed back to the hotel. James loved running the halls of the hotel room and running around inside our room. It was nice for Don & I since we could relax while James played since it was a small enough area so we could see James at all times. James did really good sleeping that night, in fact I am pretty sure that he slept better than both Don & I. Sunday morning we woke up nice and early and heading onto the Zoo. James loved the aquarium and the gorillas. I think that James like the aquarium the most since that was really the only place that he was able to run around at, thus the very positive side of going to the zoo first thing in the morning cause it is not busy at all!! James was so good at the Zoo he got to pick out a new book and stuff animal to take home, James read the book most of the way home. Daddy also picked out a neat puzzle for James to play with once he gets a little older. I am pretty sure that Don & I have learned that we will not be taking long trips for several years. The short weekend trips are just right for all 3 of us :) Enjoy the pictures below!!!

James chillin in the truck on the way there!

driving a truck like dada at the children's museum

The turtle came to say hello at the Zoo

like I said this was James' favorite part of the Zoo!!!

Flooded Car

So it has been forever since I have been on here sorry, life gets crazy fast around here!! :)
So this weekend we had a really bad storm in Altoona early Sunday morning. We had 65 mph winds, and lots & lots of rain in a VERY short time. Our drain in our parking lot back up and my car ended up getting flooded. Around 4:30 AM our door bell rang and it was our neighbors downstairs telling Don that my car was under water, so when Don woke me up I was really confused since our parking lot is flat & never thought that I would need to worry about possible flooding, but sure enough I grabbed my glasses and ran downstairs and the water was up to my door panel!! When Don & I walked in the water to get to my car, I realized that there was about 2 inches of water inside my car too!!! We just paid off the car off a week before Sunday, so you know that must of cursed us! Anyways after some very fun times with the dealership and car insurance adjusters the car is currently getting fixed and should be ready for pick up by Friday. Praise God no major repairs, only need new carpet & seats, air bag sensor and new fire wall insulation. Our garage was also flooded but most of our stuff was ok since we have alot of it high up or in tubs but it took us most of Sunday cleaning out the car and the garage going through boxes that did get water in them. I could not image going through a whole flooded house, I am pretty sure that I would just walk away!!

Our garage

James' Tattoo

Every since I found out that I was pregnant, I decided that I was going to get another tattoo to honor my child. I finally figured out what I wanted to do and where I wanted it. I decided to have James' name tattoo on the back side of my wrist. His name is in chinese, I decided to do it in chinese instead of english, cause I figure more people will ask me what it means than just having it in english. I did forget how painfull they are but I remeber really fast when Abby started doing the tattoo!! Thanks to my mom for coming with me to distract me :)

Mommy's Little Helper

James has recently started to love to sort things and pull everything out of drawers and boxes. This has made doing laundry on Monday's a little more challenging, as you can see from the photos below :)

Yucky Grass!!

We had our family photo taken this weekend in Waukee with my side of the family and since we dont have much of a yard James has never really been in grass before. I decided to set him down in it & he HATED it!!! I did capture it all on camera, so I will always remember this moment :)

Ear Tubes

Monday we went to have James' surgery for his ear tubes. It couldn't have gone better,thanks to the support of our parents and prayers from family & friends. James is such a happier child, not that he wasnt before but there are not as many battles to get him to eat his bottle or go to sleep, he is also much more playful!! :) It is really nice to not to have to be doing Tylonol every 4 hrs too!! When your child is in pain or is sick you feel so helpless and bad for them, for once I feel like I really helped James feel better and that is a really great feeling!! We promised James a new toy if he was a big boy during the surgery process, so yesterday I went to Target and got him a leap frog baby lap top, since he is so in love with ours. I decided to get him a ballon too since he loves them. When I got home he was more interested in the ballon than to nice new toy we got him!! We gave him his 1st bath since the ear tubes and he did really good with the ear plugs!! Now if only Don & I could get better. We both headed off to Urgant Care tonight after work. I have a double ear infection which I have had now for 3 weeks and Don has strep!! Hopefully we can all be healthy at once really soon!!

My "Get Well Soon" Balloon for mama & dada

My fancy new ear plugs!!

First Steps!!!

Well it is offical, James is now walking!!! He will take about 6-7 steps from mom to dad or his highchair to other things. James gets so proud of himself being able to walk and than falls down and giggles :) I can not believe how big he is getting and how fast they grow up! It really brings tears to my eyes when I think about how little he use to be! He took his first few steps about a week ago and we have been working with him ever since each day he gets a little better. Don bet me that James would be walking before he was 10 months and I hate to admitt that I was wrong he was right but I dont mind being wrong on this one :)