part 1, getting there

a decent morning getting out of ft rucker. nothing too crazy. the flight out seemed sooooooo long with the kids. jake got to see how it is to go thru security at the airport with the kids and a LOT of stuff. on the way to the airport, i was driving and a rock chipped the windshield. made me sad. :-( but we got to las vegas and got to be away for two weeks.

part 2, there!

decemeber in las vegas. RAIN! FLOODING! COLD! normally doesnt happen that way, but it did while we were there. however, we still got to do a lot of the stuff we wanted. we went to the distribution center to get our temple stuff, we got to eat PANDA and INnOUT!!!!!!, got to eat luv-its, see the bellagio, see the gold and silver pawn shop. and we got to see family. grandmas bed was harder than a rock, her shower was painful... so we stayed at moms house the last night. that was interesting because james was freaking out that night. whatever. drove up to utah in grammas car. THAT was scary. it felt like the tranny was slipping, so we had to take it into the dealer to get it fixed. didnt have our own car for the whole trip. but we did get to bless sam and get sealed in the temple, so i suppose that is ok!! did family pics, no one had a melt down, so that was nice. it was great to be with jakes family since they are awesome and helpful. umm.. utah didnt have snow when we got there, but when we left, they had a blizzard! grams car started to act up again. almost didnt make it back to vegas for our flight. ended up with a LOT of stuff to take home.

part 3, the way home

after being dropped off by my dad to the airport around 8am, we hurried to get our bags checked in. that was super fast. then we went into the airport and went thru security. we got to go thru the family lane since we had liquids and baby crap. its so stressful going thru there with two kids and a double stroller. james did NOT want his shoes OR his jacket taken off, so he was freaking out. but we got thru real quick and made it to the gate with an hour to spare. got on the flight. figured out seating (able to get almost 2 rows to ourselves). sam slept most the way. james slept as we started to LAND. but all in all, the flight went well. took an HOUR to get our FIVE bags that we checked in. while jake was getting the truck, i was in charge of getting the luggage and children together. ya, i had THREE men ask to either help OR to pay for me to have help take my baggage out. i kinda missed alabama manners. but anywho... the drive home was going well. it was raining and WARM. sam wanted to eat TWICE, so that took awhile. when we were almost home, there was a fatal accident in troy that set us back an hour. so... we finally got home about 9pm. unpacked everything, put everything away, made laundry piles. james went to bed about 1130p? sam went to bed about midnight? and we fell asleep shortly there after.

what a trip, right? goodness!

just a day!

my goodness... do you ever just have one of those days where everything happened that never does, it wasnt really "bad" but it wasnt the best day ever? just a lil off? ya.. it was like that yesterday.

lets start with each person in the family and how THEIR day went...

sam - he slept most of the day, ate a ton, but had a GREAT time hanging out at Megan's house.

james - didnt take a nap, apparently wrote on the wall with a crayon while supposedly "sleeping", played hard with his friends Parker, Dallin, and Emme, got to play outside in the water, ate a ton, fell asleep on the way home (ya, 6pm!), got into a LOT of trouble because he wrote on the wall, slept all night tho.

jake - didnt get to do his check ride, has a stick buddy who is just odd, left his phone at home (never does that), got nothing to eat all day, tore his gloves on the black hawk, fell asleep at like 9pm!, couldnt eat dinner til home teacher left (who showed up unannounced).

steph - took james to dr, didnt get to nap, was so bored so went to a friends house, hung out there, got called to pick up a friends kid from the bus stop, car wouldnt start, had to take friends car to get other kid, wasnt able to pick up kid from bus stop, had to get a new battery, wasnt able to be home to make dinner, spent entire at Megan's house, but did get to sleep before 10!

see? nothing bad, but the WIERDEST things. battery died, james didnt nap, wrote on the wall for the 1st time, wasnt able to help friend by getting kid from bus... just everything fell apart. but i have a new battery, was finally able to pick up kid from bus, and Megan and Kyle saved the day for me!!! thanks guys! i couldnt have made it thru yesterday without you!

james and sam

as to try and make this post not longer than it has to be, i will briefly tell you what is going on in each ADORABLE pic.. :-)

this is the most amazing pic of james we have taken in awhile!


and this is james trying to hang out in sam's bouncer. james is still only 25lbs, so its no biggy that he is in there.


this pic of the boys is priceless!


we did this with james so we had to do it with sam. the famous "in daddys jacket" pic.


sam got a bath in the tub for the first time. we have been doing the sink, but he is a TAD big!


jake thought it would be cool to teach sam NOW the importance of holding on to the remote so mommy cant touch it.


and this is a typical day for sam to hang out on daddy. you can see how big he is getting compared to jake.


and that is about what is going on here nowadays. :-)

2 or jealous??

is it because he is two or because he is jealous??? that is what i am trying to figure out.

james keeps getting out of his bed at night. i think i have mentioned this before, but now its EVERY night. and he brings both his blankets (he calls them "buggies") and curls up by the door. we tried giving him more bottle, we tried cuddling, we tried talking to him... nothing makes him STAY in bed. but he loves his brother. he loves to kiss him and hug him and have us lay them down together. so i dont understand. why act all crazy if you LOVE your brother??

on top of that, he isnt eating very well again. i cant get him to eat much of anything anymore. unless its a hamburger? but even the waffles he loves, he eats 3 bites and stops. i just wish he was PERFECT and that this situation was PERFECT and that i could get a nap! :/

dentist

heres a cute pic before my dentist story.. :-)



alright, now that you got to see the cute pic, here is my story...

we took james to his first dental appt last week. as we were leaving, they asked if i wanted to come in later that week and bring james to show him its not a big deal. i did, and he did ok. at my appt, they saw that one of my fillings was chipping, so i needed to make a return appt. that brings us to today. jake was at school, so i had to bring both the boys with me. got there and of course they were behind. just before they called me back, my friend Cristy popped in for her appt. chatted with her and she offered her ipod touch for james to watch a movie while i was in my appt. WHAT A SWEETIE! so, i go into the room, get james situated with Madagascar and i start my appt. then, james was being a terd and didnt want to watch the movie anymore. one of the dental assistants came in and took him to the toy box and played with him (after asking me if it was ok first) while i did my appt. as i left, i was suppose to pay the difference in what the insurance wouldnt cover ($15, not biggy), but i didnt have my wallet with me. the lady told me not to worry about it and to just pay sometime soon (their policy is pay at time of service, so that was a big deal i thought). so, i guess the moral of my story is, the people at my dentist office are BEYOND sweet and its so wonderful to know that you have friends around.

YAY! :-)