My 6 month old

I completely forgot to finish and the post this, so sorry. I have failed my blog lately. I have also failed to read blogs lately. I will attempt to explain in a future post until then...

James is a very happy baby.

He smiles and laughs all the time (and in my head I picture him saying "smiling's my favorite!"

I'd officially call him an easy baby, although he still wants to be held most of the time.

James weighs (well weighed at his 6 mo appointment) 20lbs (99%)

James is (was) 28.5 inches long (99%)

I do not remember what his head measurement was; but usually he is usually around the 70%.

James got tiny little bumps all over his face one day. The next day they were on his chest. And the day after that they covered his entire body (poor guy). Turns out, he had heat rash. I now carry ice packs with me and when we get out of the car I have to line his seat with them. Since I have been doing this, his heat rash has disappeared.

James isn't super into solids yet. He will take about 5 bites (max) and about 3.5 of those bites end up on his bib. Then he gags and clamps his mouth closed so I can't feed him anymore.

He still nurses every 2 hours (day and night). It started to slow down a while back but he is in another growth spurt and with the heat like this I'm sure he is a bit more dry than usual.

He likes to prop his feet up on me. On my arms, or legs, or chest; whatever he can.

He is a chatter box. I LOVE listening to him rattle on and on in his baby talk. Usually it sounds like Da da th th th th waaa et aaaahhhh. I'm pretty sure it means, I love you mommy.

James loves books. He no longer tries to put books in his mouth when I read to him! He watches the pictures and tries to turn the page.

The second I lay James down on his back he rolls over to his tummy, then waves his arms frantically as if he is trying to swim.

While in the crawl position he arm crawls with one arm. No legs. He can actually make an entire circle!

I still bounce James to sleep for every nap and for bedtime, people tell me I am spoiling him. Really I am just enjoying every second with him. Is that so wrong?

We do bedtime routine each night. I think he is just starting to expect that bedtime is approaching when we do story, scripture, song, pray...

James has a nervous laugh. When he is anxious to eat, or prematurely wakes from a nap, he laughs. Not his normal laugh, but almost an irritated laugh. Wonder where he picked that up...

James is the most cuddly baby I've ever known.

When Sam walks in at night, James immediately smiles his best smile and starts to make happy noises. He knows Sam is just about to scoop him up and entertain him. It's my favorite part of the day, watching them play together.

Fun photos from Callie's shower

Last weekend, Becca and I threw a shower for Callie, who is expecting a son in just a few short weeks!

We made sure to do a photo guestbook.

(thanks for the tip sister!!)

The Guest of Honor:

Callie Crum

The Hostesses:

Becca Thomas

Me

Our Guests:

Trisha Wood

Kim Tanner

Little Miss Tanner

Karrie Wood

Shanna Maznio

Kate Abraham

Dayna Abraham

Lori Conium

Chrissy Jacobson

Mark Thomas

Brooke Bushman

Amanda Petersen

(love how her top matches the decor)

Kindi Walstrom

Judy Boyd

Emily Gladden

Emily Goodman

Tiffany Larsen

The Kiddos:

Zina Thomas

Wilson Thomas

Ellie Larsen

The 2 cutest men alive:

Sam & James

Hoppy Easter

We had an amazing Easter:
-Went to church and arrived right on time

-Came home and took an amazing nap for an hour and a half.

-We woke up and had a fun Easter photo shoot:

-Put James down for a little nap.

-Put the potatoes in the oven, which I preprepared the night before.

-Made the rolls (which I had also preped the night before)

-Finished the food 15 minutes before we needed to leave.

-James woke up just in time to get dressed and go to the Walstrom's house for Easter dinner.

-We had an amazing meal at the Walstrom's and had a great time hanging out with our friends.

-We came home and put the baby to bed.

-I got to spent some time with my husband.

-Went to bed.

Such a great Easter :) We are so blessed to have such great friends while we live so far from our families.

outtakes

My friend KC does outtakes of her daughter Holland so I thought I would borrow the idea since it always makes me laugh to see the silly faces she makes.

I love him too

Since most, well all, of my posts seem to be about James these days I wanted to be sure to mention the other man in my life; my husband.

I love Sam very much.

He works really hard in medical school.

He loves our baby very much.

He loves me a lot.

I feel lucky to have him

(even when he leaves crumbs on the counter:)).

It's the month of our anniversary.

Three years of wedded bliss.

(Such a "Sam" face)

James is 4 months old!

He is actually 4 and a half months old but I'm afraid I'm a bit late.
His stats:

weight> 17lbs 7ozs- 91%
length> 27inches- 99%
head> I don't remember :( but it was the 52%

James is SUCH a happy boy.
If I lightly touch his nose and say boo he laughs every time.
He is a great sleeper. Naps every 1.5 to 2 hours like clock work. Goes to bed around 7:30PM and wakes up around 6:30AM (sometimes when I am VERY lucky as late at 7:30AM)
He can stand up when holding on to the ottoman.
He is close to sitting up unassisted. He can do it for a few seconds but not for long. I think it's because of his healthy sized bum and legs. They make him a sturdy sitter :)
His best sign so far, as stated in an earlier post, is "up":

We are now working on signing "milk" which he has done once before.
He loves his bouncer.
He will sit in his Bumbo on the counter and watch me cook (a safe distance from the stove and not close to the edge of the counter of course).
He has the best lips and I kiss him a million times a day.
He loves Sam, I know I say this in all the updates but seriously he already knows how funny his daddy is and who doesn't love that?
He has already flown 8 times and has been a dream baby every. single. time.
He still looks a lot like his daddy but I also see a lot of his Auntie Ambyr in him.
His hair is strawberry blond and getting really long in places. I don't have the heart to trim it.
He has bright blue large eyes.

He is growing up way way too fast :( I'm just glad he's still so snuggly :)

American Idol top 11 wrap up

So American Idol, Elton John week: AMAZING. EJ has been a family favorite all of my life and I was super excited to see the Idols perform his stuff. A couple of my faves were left out:
1. Harmony (my #1 fave EJ song)
2. This Train
3. I Want Love
I am happy no one did The Lion King soundtrack.

I have to say, I am starting to "get" Jacob. His voice is smooth and easy to listen to but he is beginning to remind me of Billy Ocean (see what I mean here)

I think Paul should have performed Harmony. It would have been PERFECT for him. I am starting to feel like he is losing his flare in this competition. His voice is still amazing but he reminds me of Chris Cornell post Sound Garden excluding Audio Slave, incredible voice, not singing the right songs.

I hate Niema.
I hate Stefano.

I like Thea's voice but I find her to have zero personality :-/

I LOVED Lauren Alaina's performance.

I think James Durban is okay but highly over rated and SUPER cocky. Did you catch last week when he said "I got to save something for the finale?!" Skewz me?!?!

Pia irritates me too. More because it seems like she has tractor beams for Paul which I find hilarious. Their kids would have amazing musical talent though ;)

LOVE Haley Reinhart, I like her best of all the ladies. Love her growl.

I won't miss Scotty McCreery when he's gone. Sowee.

I wouldn't have missed Casey...

I almost DIED when Paul was in the bottom 3! Not cool. I voted online so I did my part.