Collecting Grasshoppers

Yesterday Anthony discovered a swarm of grasshoppers in our backyard and instantly wanted to show them all to James. James loved them of course! Just that morning I had showed James his first rolly-polly, which he promptly loved to death :) Anthony wanted to try to get rid of as many of them as possible, so he created a game with James where they would catch them and stuff them into this baby food jar. I didn't know what they were doing until James came into the house waving the jar full of bugs to show me. He was so excited!! I was so grossed out!!

Now if you ask him to smile for the camera or "say cheese", this is the face you get:

Another result from "say cheese". I love the faces this boy makes!!

Waaay too much poop for this early in the morning

*Warning, there are some gross pictures in the upcoming post. If you are easily grossed out, do not read any further!*

Today was the day for poop. It started out innocently enough. Around 9am I took James to volunteer at the farm, which we haven't done in a few months. I was really excited to get out there and harvest some veggies and let James run around. It was overcast when we got out to the car, but I didn't think anything of it. Once we started driving, it started to drizzle but then it stopped. I thought, "Oh well, things will just be a little bit damp". We got to the farm and I set out to harvest some romaine lettuce and the heavens opened! James and I were drenched after a few minutes. I didn't mind so much, but James was not a big fan. I took him over to some trees and stood under an umbrella for awhile hoping that it would stop soon. After about another 15 minutes, James walked over to the car crying and pulling on the door handle saying, "Go, go, go!". Poor guy, he was wet and cold and wanted to go home!

So we gave up and went home. We were both wet and muddy, so I ran a warm bubble bath and we both got in. We had a blast! James has never really played in real bubbles before, and he had so much fun blowing the bubbles and smashing them with his truck. I decided I was done, got out, got dressed, and grabbed some clothes for James for when he was ready to get out. As I was walking through my bedroom I saw these lovely presents Belle had left for us on our bedspread and on the carpet:

I made a mental note to wash the bedspread and clean the carpet as soon as James got out of the bath and went to go see if he was ready to get out. As I walked up to the bathtub, James was sitting in the middle of it saying, "Poo, poo!". Oh yeah. He pooped in the bathtub. Thank Heavenly Father and all my lucky stars that he decided to do it after I got out. I don't think I could have recovered if he did it while I was in there. Here is what I was faced with, before and after the water was drained out:

So I instantly went into disinfecting mode, used the last of the bleach (which is still sitting in the tub by the way. I don't think 12 hours is going to be enough for my peace of mind), got James cleaned up, put our bedspread in the washer, and scrubbed the carpet. Of course, all of this happened before 10:30am. I mean, where does your day go from there??

Trip to Mississippi

 Every year around spring break my mom and my brother take weekend trip up to Mississippi to put flowers on my dad's grave. This year we decided to come along! I found a pretty cheap hotel for us to stay in (I didn't think it would be much different from the Holiday Inn across the street, but it was definitely a "budget" motel), we all piled in my brother's car and we braved the 9 hour drive there on Friday, stayed Saturday, and drove 9 hours back Sunday. After dinner we got back in our car and drove the 3 hour drive from my mom's house back to our house for a total of 12 hours in the car. It was a marathon of a car trip!

At one of our meal stops, James climbed into the driver's seat to take a turn at the wheel. He sure does love a steering wheel!

The drive there seemed pretty endless. James was full of energy and wanted someone to play with him the entire trip. He fell asleep for a total of 15 minutes around 7pm right before we got to the hotel. He also isn't used to sleeping in the same room with us, so putting to him to bed was a challenge. Since we were still in the room with him, he couldn't understand why we weren't playing with him. We were practically hiding under the covers so he couldn't see our faces while he kept yelling, "Mommy! Mommy!...Daddy! Daddy!"

On Saturday after we visited my dad's grave, we stopped by this old tank that is in front of the local VFW. James loved it!

He had to touch as much of it as he could!

Running circles around it. He is so tiny compared to this thing!

 

He saw my mom sitting on this little wall, so he wanted to sit on it too...for about 2 seconds, then he wanted down so he could keep running in circles.

The drive back seemed to go much faster. We got an early start and didn't make as many pit stops. I think we were all ready to be home :) We stopped at a diner for lunch and James was not happy about sitting in a seat for another hour or so. It took a really long time to get our food and since James was melting down I spent most of the time out on the restaurant's porch letting him run around and watch the cars drive by. After we made it to my mom's house, we had dinner and then hit the road to drive home. We got home around 9:30 and we were so happy to take a break from the car for a while!

Our next big car trip is our family vacation to myrtle beach in the beginning of June, so we have a good 2 month break to get ready to do it again :)

James Update- 2 years and 2 months

 Our early suspicions were definitely right, we have a serious talker on our hands!! James has learned so many new words and phrases and he loves to talk. Loves, loves, loves it. Whenever we are out and about running errands, I usually have at least one person comment on how much he talks. There are a lot of things that he says that need interpreting, but he is getting really good at communicating what he wants and what he is thinking about.

The best is when he picks up on little phrases and exclamations that you just don't expect out of a little one. His favorite right now is "Oh my gosh!!". He says it all the time with different variations and emphasis. Sometimes it is  "Oh. My. Gosh." Other times it is "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!!" He also says "Oh, shoot!", "Awww, man" and "Cool!!"

He has started to have a real independence streak and is having a hard time with transitions, so we have started saying "Bye, bye!" to anything that we have to leave or put away. It seems to help him realize that we are leaving or that it is time for it to go and he doesn't get as upset. Usually. In the past week or so he has started saying "Bye bye! ab good day!!!" (have a good day). It is so funny to hear him tell the boat or a toy car to have a good day :)

He is still really particular about his clothes and things around him in general. Everything around him always has to be just so. As the weather is getting warmer, I have had to make sure to hide his hats and jackets because if he finds them, he insists on wearing them no matter how hot or uncomfortable or cranky it makes him. I've started asking him what he wants to wear in the morning and try to give him some options, because if I choose something he doesn't like he flips out! One time he absolutely didn't like the shirt I picked out and after I put it on him he pulled and pulled and pulled on it until I took it off. When I ask him what he wants to wear in the morning, he always says, "Tie, tie, tie!!" I can usually get away with ignoring it, but one day he wouldn't let up, so I put on a tie over his t-shirt. He loved it!! He wore it all day.

Here are pictures of a trip to a park where he insisted on wearing his hat and his church shoes. I tried offering him multiple pairs of other shoes, but he just wasn't happy until he got his church shoes. When I went to put those on him, he was giggling with joy!

Here is a picture of the lake at this new park. It was a beautiful morning!

I had to take a picture of the roots of this cool cypress tree. It looks like something you would see in a fantasy movie!

 

James hates seeing trash on the ground and always wants to pick it up wherever we go (the park, the grocery store, etc..). Then he doesn't want to give it to me, he always wants to hold onto it until we can find a trash can and he can put it in himself.  

He still loves trains, but most of his attention seems to have moved to cars (and cars the movie), boats, and turtles. There is a video on youtube that he loves called "the fruit train" that is just a cartoon of a train with different fruits behind it and they name each one. James has watched it for a long time and has finally started trying to copy all the fruits that they say. Anthony got an adorable video of it the other day. My favorite is how "lemon" and "watermelon" became "belly button" :)

                                   

Pregnancy Journal: 14 Weeks

So here I am at 14 weeks. I took a different picture the day before this one and put it on facebook, but the pants I was wearing or something made me look bigger than I was (according to a few people :) so I took another one for the blog. I am wearing almost the exact same shirt as in this picture of me with James at 13 weeks, so not too different :)

I really enjoyed being able to go back and look at my blogs of the different weeks of pregnancy of James, and I am sort of sad that at 14 weeks, this is my first one with this baby. I think since I have been to this rodeo before, some of the excitement isn't there which makes the irritating things more irritating. So basically I feel like I have a list of complaints, which never makes for the most entertaining of reading.

However, there sure are a lot of things this time around that are really different from before! It really is true what they say that each pregnancy is different. I've had A LOT of round ligament pain, which I don't remember having with James although Anthony says I did. (How does he remember and I don't? oh well). At one point it was so bad, I started thinking in my head "Is this what contractions feel like this early on in the pregnancy? Am I having contractions and not realizing it?". I've also had a lot of lower back pain, which I know I had with James at one point but it was much later in the pregnancy. I asked a chiropractor friend about it and he said it looks like it is being caused by the way I hold my hips when I carry James around. It is putting pressure on the nerves in my lower back. He also said that the muscles in my core and in my upper legs are probably weak, which is putting more pressure on my back than there should be. So I am starting a program of toning and tightening exercises that he suggested this week to hopefully ease the pain.

A lot of the exhaustion and nausea has started to go away and every day I am feeling more and more like myself, which is good because James has started to have these horrible tantrums! He has learned the word "mine!" finally and with all of his tantrums, he is definitely a 2 year old now :)

Anthony's New Boat

After 7 months of intense daily online shopping and price checking, Anthony finally bought his new boat! Ever since he sold the aquarium his goal was to get his dream fishing boat, one that was bigger, more stable, and more comfortable for cruising and for fishing. He had finally decided on a brand of boat that he liked and was in his price range as long as he could find one used. In the entire 7 months that he has been looking, only one or two have been put up for sale in our area and those were still out of our price range. Awhile ago Anthony put up a post on a boat forum with the kind of boat he was looking for and what he could pay and two weeks ago a guy contacted him gave him a great deal on this one:

 The guy bought it brand new a few years ago and has only been able to take it out a few times since then. He decided that he just wasn't going to get any use out of it and decided to sell it. Anthony was so excited!!! He never thought he would be able to afford a basically new boat and motor, and since the guy was getting out of boating completely, he threw in a lot of extras which were awesome bonuses. Seriously, I don't know if I have ever seen Anthony this excited about anything. The day after we picked up the boat and brought it home, Anthony couldn't sleep and was up at 6am ready to play with the boat :)

We met the seller at the parking lot of Bass Pro Shops in Orlando, so we had to see the big aquarium that is in the middle of the store. It was a short viewing though, since it was WAY past James' bedtime and we still had the drive home to get through.

 Tuesday after we picked up the boat, we were able to take our maiden voyage. James was ready to use his fishing pole!

We cruised around for awhile and Anthony tried to see how fast the boat could go. I made him stop at around 20 mph, it was just too fast for me!! James had no problem with it, so I guess I'm the wimp of the family. After that, we found a place to fish and tried to see what we could catch. Anthony caught a tiny sheepshead and a tiny snapper and I caught a few tiny snappers. Mostly they just stole our bait :) It was still a lot of fun!

On the way back to the boat ramp, Anthony had me take over and drive the boat for awhile. It was a lot harder than it looks!

Anthony hasn't been able to take the boat out since then, but he has lots of plans for this week. He also spent all weekend planning the ways he is going to fix up and add to his boat to make it even more awesome. Boys and their toys!

Island Adventure

The Thursday before the Astorga's left, Anthony took the day off of work. The original plan was to go to Sea World, but we were all exhausted and wanted a fun outing that would be a little more low key. So we decided to pile into Anthony's fishing boat for a ride out to an island for a picnic! It was a little bit chilly out, but the wind made it freezing!!! We bundled up as much as we could and tried not to get wet. James was in heaven!! He loved every minute of it, that boy is obsessed with boats. He constantly points out boats everywhere we go and always talks about "Daddy's boat". Sometimes in the mornings he will ask for Daddy and when I tell him he is at work he responds, "In daddy's boat?". I think he thinks Anthony works on a boat   or takes a boat to work :)

Here we are all cozy in the boat: Anthony was in the back and Jared, Nolan, James, and I were in the middle:

Happy, Nolan, Dallin, and Teya were at the front. Poor Nolan, he was not a fan of the boat ride:

Anthony spotted a large conch on shore next to the boat, so he got it to show the kids:

 Anthony getting the fishing pole ready to throw out:

We found a spot on the beach that wasn't too windy and set up some lawn chairs. Anthony gave James his first official casting lesson with his new fishing pole!

James has become pretty particular about his clothing/accessories. If he is wearing a hoodie, the hood has to be on at ALL times regardless of the temperature, jackets and shirts must always be buttoned and zipped, and socks and shoes must always be on. When we got to the island, we tried to take his life jacket off so that he would be more comfortable but he immediately said, "No, no, NO" so we just let him keep it on rather than have a tantrum on our hands. Such a funny boy!

 After lunch, we set off to explore more of the island. It was much bigger than I thought it was!! One of the more surprising things was how much trash people had left behind! I've seen people camping on the island before, but I thought it was a given that you clean up after yourself and leave things cleaner than you found them!

Some of the trails on the island are pretty narrow and overgrown and on one section we had to just lift James and carry him through. It looked so funny to me, I had to get a picture of it:

 More exploring with the fishing pole:

 We took turns taking pictures at these palm trees overlooking the water. Isn't it a gorgeous view?

When it was time to go, we said something about getting in the boat to go home and James couldn't get to the boat fast enough! He was dying to get back in it, so we went ahead and put him in while Anthony maneuvered the boat so that it was deep enough for us to push off. I'm pretty sure that being the king of Daddy's boat, even for a few minutes, is this boy's version of heaven.

 On the way back to the dock I was thinking how disappointing it was that we hadn't seen any dolphins, when all of a sudden a few popped up! We saw them a couple of times before they took off down the channel and it felt like the perfect ending to a great outing!

Family Dinner

The Sunday after Happy and her family arrived, Anthony's sister, Beth, who lives in Georgia drove down to their parent's house in Merritt Island. It was the perfect day for a family dinner! All of Anthony's siblings were there, except for his sister Joje. Beth had never met James in person so it was great to get to see her.

Here is everyone getting ready to eat. I'm not sure where James is, as soon as he gets to a new place, he is off exploring and nothing can deter him. He won't even take time to eat! Of course, as soon as we get in the car to go home, he is starving and starts demanding his food :)

 Anthony's older sister and his Aunt Eileen didn't know we were expecting, so right before dinner we told everyone. Yay for us!

Happy got these pictures of James while he was running around, laughing at her trying to get him to stay still for a picture. I am amazed that she got these pictures, most of the time I can only get the back of him as he runs away!

 After dinner we realized that he hadn't heard from any of the kids in awhile and we opened the bedroom door to find this cousin pow wow. Doesn't it just melt your heart??? Anthony's parents seriously are the best grandparents ever (except for my mom who is equally as awesome), they love getting on the floor and playing with their grandkids:

Anthony's parents also bought kites for all the kids and took them all out to fly them. James loved watching everyone fly their kites, but he didn't quite get the concept of kite flying when he was holding it. I don't know what it is, but James' total obliviousness to the kite just cracks me up in this video!

Spending time with everyone was so great, I wish we could do it more often! Somehow we have to convince  all of Anthony's siblings and mine to move to New Smyrna Beach :)