for amos...

jamey with his uncle james... he ate better for james than ANYONE else (but auntie mere)

auntie mere and me!!!

james and baby will... so fun. the boys were enthralled with each other!

our new holiday fascination... buzz on playstation 2. it was AWESOME (except NO ONE can beat dyh)

coco and pop-pop

nora playing with her brother. she LOVES to play with him!

christmas morning!

daddy got a mr. potato head. nora was excited!!!

daddy's stocking!

i want it... my presents!

uncle jim came over... he's a ringknocker... he married a navy nurse, VERY quickly. they always told me to find myself a ringknocker (naval academy grad). i did... then, had a boy and a girl, just like them! they have a special place in my heart, and i in theirs (i think...). they even flew out to our wedding... (btw, i think they met in sd, also!)

my sweet angel baby. loving his food now! eating about three meals a day. and much prefers to eat it with his hands!

the penguins. anyone remember this? the penguins climbing the stairs! nora went nuts... so did james!

byssa's AWESOME roomie came to visit for several days... LOVE YOU ANG!!!

jamey and auntie brea. so much fun. anyway... it's new year's eve. we are continuing a tradition of the friedrich's and the presley's. (and all the kids and married names, etc) one of my favorite traditions! amos, this one's for you. my new year's resolution... blog once a day... just for amos and dd. high hopes!!!

the rainforest,but

mmm... started this snow at the end of my run on sunday... that's why my run got cut a little short!!!

my sweet boy. he has been so fun and easygoing about EVERYTHING this trip.

more princesses... nora was THRILLED!! and the girls were thrilled to have a dress up "doll"!

snuggles!

nora got to go to the rainforest at the cleveland zoo with her mom-mom, auntie coco, daddy, and friends gavin, marita and ane. they had a BALL!! the kids all love nora and she just looks up to them. jamey stayed home and played with uncle dd while mommy slept (i was fighting something off... thank goodness for a good nap!!)

we have had a busy week, filled with lots of love and fun. this morning, we celebrated auntie coco's birthday with breakfast at a restaurant our friend just opened (crossings on 82 in aurora, if you are in town!!). it was AWESOME, and so cheap! david and i drove to west virginia yesterday to visit his grandpa. we had a FABULOUS day in the car... and got to visit for a few hours! it was so fun to have 10 hours to ourselves!!! (and drive through FOUR states to get there). we marveled at the fact that in california, a five hour, one way drive, you would only be halfway through the state, but we hit four!!

the life...

trying so hard to climb the step!! SO HARD!

james and will. they are about two months apart, and only a few pounds different. (i have a picture of will from june. he decided he couldn't wait till his real birthday to be born. i got to visit him in the hospital. it was SO FUN to have the boys playing together today!!!)

james found a ping pong ball today. he LOVED putting it in his mouth. when i told him to take it out, he did! it was cute!

daddy got to play with the girls... noooo-ra and yibby

pop-pop got to play with baby will for awhile!

why do i feel like i have a 13 year old???

jamey-boy likes to slide down in the high chair!!

loving his pop-pop.

i am not a runner. let me repeat that. i am not a runner. so why, you might ask, was i out running, in 29* weather, snowing, and for 8.5 miles? you tell me. but, i am not a runner. (however, my time was AWESOME!!!)

nora and her aunties!!! so much fun.

the monkeys!!!

nora was beyond excited about the penguins. it was so cute!!!

the life. i am at lt's house, drinking an adult beverage, enjoying puppy chow, and watching up. okay, so aside from the adult beverage, it could be a kiddie play date. but, we are having a blast! it's so much fun. free babysitting, called mom-mom and pop-pop. good friends. good times.

for some reason, memories have really struck me this time home. it's been weird. i missed my 10 year high school reunion over thanksgiving. it's amazing how fast time flies. how has it been 10 years? it is so fun to be home for christmas! home. it feels good. the crunch of snow, the warmth of the fire, the family...

sit and spin..

this is the after. i will explain the before in a second. we were having basket time (i think i might use this more often. i have vacuumed and swiffered the house, in addition to finishing up laundry, emailing and blogged while they have been in there. james mysteriously got "out", but he is now safely back in. nora has been threatened NOT to take his toys, and subsequently has been filling up HIS basket with all the books she has read!)

i gave in and let her have a blue candy cane today. sucker!

this was our excursion to the mall yesterday. awesome! pulling a brittnay and all!

okay, the before. we are taking a red-eye tonight. i got into bed at 9:30 last night. james woke up at 10pm to eat. then at midnight. then nora woke up at 1. then james again at 2. then nora at 4. then all of us at 7am. it was a fun night! also, they have decided to boycott naps today. i have been trying to clean up the house, finish up laundry and pack. but, they didn't cooperate. HOWEVER... they have been playing really well together recently. nora loves chasing james as he crawls all over the place.

so, i was in the kitchen, putting the last of the dishes in the dishwasher and washing a few. nora was spinning james around in the exersaucer. they were having fun. so, i finished what i was doing and went in to the family room. james looked a little green.

i should interject here (not that you don't know where this story is headed) and mention that jamey has been eating new foods recently, and for lunch, we added chicken!

i picked up jamey and not ten seconds later was covered in his latest meal. not fun. poor guy has developed his mother's sense of motion sickness!!! or was just spun one too many times!! at least he is back to his normal self now.

okay, natives getting restless in their baskets and laundry is done!!

merry christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

the mall.

i decided i needed to get a few things. so, i told nora we were going to go to the store. she said "the mall?? i want to go to the mall!" so, to the mall we went. no pictures, but we did ride the up and downs. all three of us! (and i didn't get motion sick!) i did decide that when trying on articles of clothing that requires you to remove certain articles of clothing in front of your breastfeeding child, it's better to NOT have him in the room with you! oh, victoria's secret was SO fun with two babies!!!

and, i am the sucker that sees the "buy so much, get this free". i was SO close to the so much amount... i got suckered into the free thing! at least i know i am being suckered, right?

convesation

conversation this morning:

me- "should we go get cheeses taken?"

nora- "abso-yute-yee (absolutely). i will probably ride the up and down horses. and i would probably like to go to the mall"

me- "okay"

princess and papaya...

i drew a picture of nora in chalk. she thought it was great!

she fell and hurt her lip and needed her boo-boo bunny. it was so cute!

james found a firemen's hat! it was so cute!!!

he has taken to feeding himself bananas for breakfast. it's so cute! (and MESSY!!!) i should remember not to get him dressed until he's done eating!

yesterday, we were going to have a birthday party for Jesus. but no one came. so, it was just us! nora thought it was quite fun!!!
yesterday, nora gave jamey his toy back (she had taken it from him...), and said, "jamey, what do you say to your princess?". i asked her what she wanted him to say. she replied "thank you". awesome.

earlier, she climbed into james' crib. she had his two pacifiers, and was holding them. she said "look, two pacifiers (pacifwiers) for jamey. no blue one for nora. no yellow one for nora. i am a big girl. no pacifwiers for me. sad." i loved the "sad" at the end. it sounded so grown up!

we were reading "one fish, two fish", and she told me she wanted a zans (it's the thing that opens cans) for her house. they have one for their house in the book.

meanwhile, i was reading and one of the lines is about running and running for fun in the hot, hot sun. run and fun and sun don't go together in my book. but, since you asked, running is going awesomely! we are enjoying our runs together and the feeling we get when we finish. just over a month till our race. so far, our bodies are cooperating with us!

james, however, is expanding his eating habits. i have spent the last few days cooking baby food for him. hopefully i have enough to last for quite awhile! he now eats squash, apples, bananas, carrots, broccoli, sweet potato and papaya! he went to TOWN on the papaya. oh yeah, and cherrios! i made pasta and some meat for

update...

just to let you know... i got 726 emails from david today! crazy, huh?

funny story

so, i have been trading emails with david this morning. i just got one from him...

"day is going fine. nothing crazy yet." but, for some reason, i have gotten it 105 times. 105 emails of the same thing... all saying "nothing crazy yet". i think this qualifies!!

i even called to make sure he wasn't slumped over his computer, finger on the send button. he's not. in the course of writing this post (about a minute), i got it 11 more times...

the princess...

on the way home from church today. she was on the phone, and her favorite song came on. she wanted mom-mom to hear it.

it was just such a cute expression. also, she refused to give me the phone back.

james pulled himself up onto this basket. he's getting so big!!! and check out those awesome legs!

the girls tonight.

staying warm... it was freezing!!! (okay, okay. it was about 60*)

james was not a fan of the flashes. but, he was a great little space heater. i quickly grabbed him back from stef, and all the kids asked if they could hold him. i said no! it was selfish, but my lap stayed warm!!!

this morning, nora walked into the nursery, where i was working, after church. as soon as she saw me, she exclaimed "it's me! i am here. it's nora. it's me!!". too cute. no one missed her entrance (in a leopard print sweater with a fur collar, and matching leopard print velvet pants. and her awesome kenneth cole ballet flats. she looked awesome!). on her clothes note. who lets two year olds use markers at church? yes, she got marker on her sweater. yes, i got it out! but really, the kids come in "sunday best". markers?

tonight, we went to the parade of lights in the bay. it's a bunch of boats, all dressed up for Christmas, that sail by for about an hour. on the way home, james was crying. she told him "jamey, you obey your mommy. you are going to go to bed and no crying. do you understand me? i am the princess." oh man... she reminds me of a certain sister of mine. i think i am in for some fun!!!

anticlimactic

a wonderful morning earlier this week...

all dressed up for our cbs Christmas party

the kids playing outside. of all the toys, this little hill and brick wall is always a favorite!

the hodges kids came and played the other day. i decided, as much as i love them and as awesome as they are, i don't want six kids under seven!!!

our feat of the week. nora has had a FEAR of mr potato head for six months. can't figure it out. if she knows where it's hidden, she won't go near it. but, we got it out for the friends to play with. this was her initial staredown with him. i found her like this. she stayed that way for a few minutes. however, she has decided that she now LOVES mr ph. he's her new favorite toy!!

you can't quite see it in the picture, but while i was cleaning up breakfast the other morning, i realized that both of my kids were in the family room, reading!!!

we did our Christmas last night...

nora loves the new easel she got!!!

i went to a cookie exchange this morning (after my 7 mile run!!!), and this was the display i took!! david was disappointed that i couldn't just come home with my own cookies!!!

meanwhile, david had a couple from his work over to watch the army-navy game (go navy, beat army!!!). they have twin girls about a month older than james. he LOVED having babies his age over to play. it was so much fun!!! they all swapped pacifiers and just stared at each other!!! such a fun day... and navy won!! that helped a bit!

so, dec 11 2009 was a big day for us. and, it passed just like any other day. it was the day that james got freedom from his shoes! starting yesterday, he only has to wear his shoes at night. (although, i admit, there were a few days last week that i forgot and they were off most of the day anyway.) but it was weird. no appointment, just an arbitrary day that we take his shoes off! it's nice to have the freedom. we are, in essence, done with that phase, i hope. just follow-up visits from now on!

james is crawling all over the place. it's so fun to watch him. and, like any good kid, he beelines straight for the dog food and water. every time. nora still has the lock on her door, and several mornings this week, i have heard "mommy, can i get up now??". once, i was feeding james, so i said "can you hang on just a minute". she said "sure, no problem". it's the sweetest little voice when she says it, too! what an angel!!